Maheswar Mohanty resigns on charges of sexual abuse

Maheswar Mohanty resigns on charges of sexual abuse Facing sexual abuse charges, Orissa Speaker Maheswar Mohanty resigned on Monday and a senior minister was sacked for allegedly instigating a woman employee of the assembly to sully his reputation. The day's developments brought to the fore the murkier side of state politics. Mohanty, who has been resisting stepping down following charges by Gayatri Panda, an assistant marshal, has refuted the allegations. The Speaker, against whom a case of sexual harassment has been registered following an FIR lodged with police by Panda, gave his resignation to Deputy Speaker Prahallad Dora. In a related development, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik dismissed Information and Public Relations Minister Debashish Naik who had allegedly instigated Gayatri to frame Mohanty. The Speaker had said that the charge against him was part of a conspiracy in which influential people were involved. The criminal case against Mohanty was registered on March 29, two days after the lady assembly employee lodged an FIR through a group of women activists accusing him of sexually harassing her. Soon after reports about charges levelled by Panda appeared in the media on March 26, opposition parties mounted a campaign demanding Mohanty's resignation and an independent probe either by a High Court judge or by CBI. Opposition demands impartial probe by HC judge or CBI In the wake of Orissa assembly Speaker Maheswar Mohanty's resignation over sexual abuse scandal, leader of Opposition J B Patnaik on Monday demanded impartial probe into the charges levelled by a lady marshal either by a sitting High Court Judge or by the CBI. "We had made two demands - resignation of Mohanty and impartial probe into the matter by a sitting High Court judge or the CBI", the senior Congress leader said. With the resignation of Mohanty, against whom charges of sexual abuse had been levelled by a lady assembly employee, Gayatri Panda, one of the demands made by the Opposition has been fulfilled, Patnaik said. Now the government should order a probe into the matter by a sitting judge of the High Court or the CBI, he said. On Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's decision to remove Information and Public Relations Minister Debasis Nayak, he said, "more heads should roll." While denying the charges of sexual harassment, Mohanty had said that the allegation levelled against him was part of a conspiracy in which influential politicians were involved.

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