Satya Narayan Behera Vs State of Odisha — Orissa HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Satya Narayan Behera Vs State of Odisha — Orissa HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

No direction for arrest, charge sheet or further investigation was issued; the petitioner was granted liberty to avail of the alternate remedy available to him if aggrieved by the final report.

Issue for consideration

Whether the police can be directed to arrest the accused persons in Airport PS Case No. 67 of 2026, whose offences are punishable with imprisonment of less than 7 years. +2 more

Court's answer

Where the offences charged are punishable with imprisonment of less than 7 years, the police cannot be directed to arrest the accused persons unless the conditions in Section 35(1) or 35(6) of the BNSS are fulfilled; accordingly no direction to arrest was given.

Ratio / Principle

This Court cannot direct the investigating agency to submit a charge sheet; at most a direction can be issued for expeditious or proper investigation.

Key takeaways

The Court observed that the final report-'insufficient evidence', submitted on the sole ground that no person contacted in the locality could say anything, appears to be misconceived.obiter¶14
Since a final report had already been submitted, the appropriate course was to dispose of the CRLMP, granting the petitioner liberty to avail of the alternate remedy available to him if aggrieved by the final report.ratio¶15

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

CRLMP seeking a direction to the IIC, Airport Police Station, Bhubaneswar to investigate Airport PS Case No. 67 of 2026 (registered 12.02.2026 against Jayanti Behera and Ganesh Pradhan for offences under Sections 296, 351(2), 3(5) BNS), apprehend the accused persons and ensure early charge-sheet: disposed of by Savitri Ratho, J. on 13.05.2026. Held: (i) where offences are punishable with imprisonment of less than 7 years, the question of directing the police to arrest the accused does not arise unless the conditions in Section 35(1) or 35(6) of the BNSS are fulfilled; (ii) the Court cannot direct the investigating agency to submit a charge sheet, though it may at most direct expeditious or proper investigation. The ASI's Final Form No. 76 dated 01.03.2026 ('insufficient evidence', grounded on the failure of local persons to corroborate) was observed to appear misconceived; nevertheless, as a final report had already been submitted, the petitioner was granted liberty to avail of the alternate remedy available to him against it.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK CRLMP No. 597 of 2026

Satya Narayan Behera ….. Petitioner

Mr. Khirod Kumar Swain, Advocate -versus-

….. 1.State of Odisha Opposite Parties 2.The Deputy Commissioner of Mr. A. K. Apat, Police, Bhubaneswar Additional Government Advocate 3. IIC, Air Port PS, Bhubaneswar

CORAM:

HON’BLE MISS JUSTICE SAVITRI RATHO ORDER 13.05.2026

Order No. 01.

(Through hybrid Mode)

This CRLMP has been filed for a direction to the IIC, Airport Police Station, Bhubaneswar to investigate into the Airport PS Case No. 67 of 2026 and apprehend the accused persons and submits that charge sheet as early as possible.

Perused the FIR, which has been annexed as Annexure-1 to this CRLMP. Airport PS Case No. 67 of 2026 has been registered on 12.02.2026 against one Jayanti Behera and Ganesh Pradhan for commission of offences punishable under Section 296, 351(2), 3(5) of the BNS. Since these offences are punishable with imprisonment less than 7 years, the question of directing the police to arrest the accused persons does not arise unless the conditions in Section 35(1) or 35(6) of the BNSS are fulfilled. That apart, this Court cannot direct the investigating agency to submit a charge sheet. At most, a direction can be issued for expeditious or proper investigation.

Mr. A. K. Apat, learned Additional Government Advocate

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produces the instructions dated 05.05.2026 of the IIC, Airport Police Station along with the copy of the case diary.

Perusal of the case diary reveals that although the petitioner and his tenant Keshab Jena had stated that the accused persons had abused the petitioner in obscene language and had threatened to murder him, but final report- insufficient evidence has been submitted by ASI, Airport Police Station vide Final Form No. 76 dated 01.03.2026 on the ground that in spite of contacting several persons in the locality, but nobody could say anything, which appears to be misconceived.

Since Final report has already been submitted, the CRLMP is disposed of granting liberty to the petitioner to avail of alternate remedy which is available to him, if he is aggrieved by the final report.

Subhalaxmi

Signature Not Verified

Digitally Signed Signed by: SUBHALAXMI PRIYADARSHANI SAHOO Reason: Authentication Location: Orissa High Court, Cuttack Date: 13-May-2026 21:26:05

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