Orissa High Court lawyers up in arms after another lawyer arrested

Former additional government advocate, and lawyer of the Enforcement Directorate, Debashis Panda has been arrested in connection with the Artha Tatwa chit fund scam in Odisha..He is the second lawyer to be associated with the scam after former Advocate General Ashok Mohanty was arrested in 2014. And the High Court Bar Association of Odisha has once again stood in solidarity with its brethren, having launched a protest today..Speaking to Bar & Bench, Joint Secretary Karunakar Das said,.“The proper procedure has not been followed for his arrest, which is why we are protesting. As of now, we are not abstaining from court proceedings. A General Body meeting will be held on Friday at 1:30 pm. We will make a final decision then.”.Artha Tatwa, launched by one Pradip Sethy, collected money from small investors in the state with a promise of high returns ranging from 15 to 20 per cent. The group was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, a legislation that prohibits societies from raising money from the public or promising schemes with financial returns..A number of cases were filed against the company in the Orissa High Court, as well as in lower courts. In fact, the matter even reached the Supreme Court after two petitions were filed seeking the transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation..In an order dated May 9, 2014, a bench of current Chief Justice of India TS Thakur and Nagappan J. directed the cases in Odisha, along those linked with the Saradha chit fund scam in West Bengal, to be transferred to the CBI..The CBI has been cracking down on those involved in the scam ever since. These people include Senior Advocate Mohanty, who was allegedly involved in a transaction with Sethy in the purchase of a two-storeyed house in Cuttack..Mohanty was later released on bail, but not before the High Court Bar Association issued a “cease work” notice in protest..Now, Panda has been implicated in the scam, having allegedly been a witness in the fraudulent sale of the house between Mohanty and Sethy. Panda also allegedly received an SUV from Sethy without paying any consideration..He had filed an anticipatory bail application in the High Court, which was rejected on February 1..HT to @srisrioddeven.