Orissa high court to look into police failure to prevent trawler operations near Gahirmatha

CUTTACK: The Orissa high court has fixed May 12 to take stock of the cause of police failure in taking effective steps to prevent the illegal operation of trawlers along the Gahirmatha coast, which boasts of the world’s largest rookery of Olive Ridley sea turtles.
Accordingly, the HC has directed the Kendrapada SP to appear in person in virtual mode on that day to explain why appropriate steps have not been taken in the cases listed by him in his affidavit.
The vacation bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray issued the direction on Wednesday after taking note of the details of the 12 cases that the SP had given in his affidavit.
Earlier, the HC had on April 27 directed the SP to submit the current status of the cases linked to the recent attack (March 15) on a patrolling boat along the Gahirmatha coast.
In his affidavit, the SP had given the details of the 12 cases that were registered in connection with 10 different trawlers between November 2011 and December 2020. In nine of the cases, one Niranjan Mandal was named as the accused. While no tangible progress was made in eight of the 12 cases, the accused was acquitted in one of them.
In the three other cases, Manas Mandal (2) and Makhan Mandal (1), both sons of Niranjan, were named as the accused. While progress was not evident in two of the cases, Manas was acquitted in one case, the affidavit had indicated.
Amicus curiae Mohit Agarwal pointed out to the court that even in the case arising out of the latest incident (March 15), the named accused had obtained protection from arrest in an anticipatory bail application filed in HC.
The bench also expected the Kendrapada SP to provide an explanation in that regard to the court during his personal appearance on May 12.
The submission of a report by the amicus curiae on the March 15 attack, a case relating to which had been registered with the Talachua Marine police station, sparked HC’s concern. On March 19, the HC had expressed so after taking note of the impunity with which the illegally operating trawlers are able to violate the law.