Don't defend accused minister in court: NCSC to Odisha govt

The National Commission for Scheduled Caste has pulled up the Odisha government over the alleged casteist remarks of a state minister and directed it to ask the Advocate General against defending the accused in court and instead help the prosecution.
"We told the state Chief Secretary (B K Patnaik) and DGP (Prakash Mishra) to inform the high court that state minister Damodar Rout is a habitual offender," NCSC Chairman P L Punia told PTI here.
He said the Commission also directed the state government officials to ask the Advocate General not to defend the minister in the court and instead help the prosecution strengthen its case.

In 2010 Rout had allegedly made casteist remarks against a MP, MLA and ADM of an area. Following the controversy, the state government had filed a charge sheet against the minister. But the minister managed to get a stay on the charge sheet from the high court, Punia said.
Rout was allegedly once again involved in a similar controversy recently, which prompted NCSC to direct the state government to inform the high court that he was a "habitual offender".
"We have asked them to request the high court to take a view on his repeated remarks against SCs," the NCSC chief said.

The Commission has been following up the case for the last one year and hand today asked the CS and the DGP to brief it on the latest developments.