Odisha Lok Sabha MP Baijayant "Jay" Panda found himself in trouble on Thursday, 3 May, when a sub-divisional judicial magistrate's court in the Kendrapada district of the state directed the police to file a criminal case against him on charges of submitting a "false" affidavit for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, reported The Times of India.
Panda, the MP from Kendrapara and a known critic of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, was suspended from the BJD for "weakening" the party in January this year.
The court's ruling came after a man named Dilip Kumar Das filed a petition alleging that Panda had given a "false" affidavit in the 2014 elections and hid from the public that he was drawing large monetary benefits in his role as vice-chairman of the company, Indian Metals & Ferroy Alloys Ltd (IMFA), it was further reported.
Responding to the development, Jyoti Ghose, secretary of Jay Panda, told TOI that the "case is sub-judice" and "the law will take its own course".
Earlier too, Panda has reportedly faced a case regarding the same issue.
(The Quint is now on WhatsApp. To receive handpicked stories on topics you care about, subscribe to our WhatsApp services. Just go to TheQuint.com/WhatsApp and hit Send.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)