₹10 crores defamatory case filed against Print & media houses in Bhubaneswar court by Dr.  Snehalata Na

Date of Notice- 24.06. 2021

Date of Hearing – 02.07.2021 to 05.07.2021
Date of Order- 05.07.2021
Advocate for the petitioner : M/s. Susanta Kumar Dash, Asutosh Sahoo & Prabin Das

Bhubaneswar: The order dated 05.07.2021 passed by the Hon’ble Senior Civil Judge, Bhubaneswar in the case of Dr. Snehalata Nanda vs. Ajit Kumar Dash & 25 others in C. S. No. 1282/2021(https://t.co/RA2cvEZPBA. 01 of 2021).

The suit has been filed by Dr. Snehalata Nanda, wife of Shri Madhusudan Padhi, I. A. S. Officer ( at present the principal secretary to the Govt. Of Odisha in its Commerse and Transport Department, Bhubaneswar) Seeking a decree of compensation to the tune of Rs. 10,00,00,000/- due the malicious and defamatory imputations of the opposite parties with respect to her husband.

The Court, while taking the matter seriously and with a prima facie view that the imputations are defamatory, while deciding an application under order XXXIX Rule 1 & 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, has been pleased to restrain the opposite parties, (including some of the leading Media/Print houses of the state) from making / publishing any statement or visual representation in any media / platform with malice, injuring the reputation of the petitioner – Dr. Snehalata Nanda, her husband and family members, till disposal of the suit.

Since the case relates to a serving I. A. S. Officer whose acts allegedly affect the image of the Government it is a matter of public importance.