Cuttack: Dhenkanal-based social activist and advocate Debashisha Hota on Tuesday filed an interlocutory application (IA) in his pending writ petition urging the Orissa high court to direct the CBI to probe the disappearance of Justice A S Naidu Commission report on the assassination of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati from the chief minister’s office (CMO). Earlier, Hota approached the court seeking a CBI investigation into what he termed the “unsolved” murder of Swami Laxmanananda to identify the real perpetrators.The fresh application came on the day the Odisha crime branch formally took over the investigation into the missing report from the Bhubaneswar commissionerate police. CM Mohan Charan Majhi transferred the investigation to the crime branch on July 27.In his latest plea, Hota alleged that the disappearance of the judicial commission report reflected “an alarming systematic breakdown” and argued that only an independent CBI probe could ensure a “comprehensive and impartial investigation.” The high court had on Jan 2, 2024, issued notice to the state govt on Hota’s original petition, asking it to explain why a CBI probe into Swami Laxmanananda’s murder should not be ordered. That petition is pending.lalmohanpatnaik2019@gmail.com
