A local court on Thursday refused to issue a non-bailable warrant against a defiant Orissa DGP B B Mohanty accused of helping his son convicted of rape jump parole.
It said, however, that the Rajasthan police was free to arrest the top cop.
Rejecting the Rajasthan police's petition for a NBW after two days of arguments, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Rajendra Bansal said the police can arrest Mohanty as the Supreme Court's six-week deadline for the top cop to surrender before the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court had ended on May 21.
The Apex court had also ordered that Mohanty be not arrested till that date.
"It is quite possible that DGP Mohanty is on duty in Orissa and Rajasthan Police should make attempts to arrest him instead of procuring the non-bailable warrant," said Virendra Jhakhar, a police official associated with the investigation, quoting the order.
Reacting to the court order, Mohanty said he did not want to comment on the plan of action of Rajasthan police but said any move to arrest him would be beyond its legitimate powers.
The court had on Wednesday postponed the proceedings till Thursday after the police sought a fresh warrant saying it was studying all documents including the proceedings in the Orissa High Court and Supreme Court proceedings related to the case.
A team of Rajasthan police is ready to proceed to Orissa to arrest the DGP and bring him here in connection with a case registered at Lal Kothi police station on January 10 for allegedly sheltering and helping his son Biti, who is convicted for raping a German tourist, an official said.
On March 20 last year, a German woman had alleged that she was raped in a hotel in Alwar by Biti Mohanty, an MBA student.
On March 21, he was arrested and a fast track court convicted Mohanty on April 11.
However, since December 4 he has jumped the parole, granted to meet his ailing mother, and went missing.
Early this year, Rajasthan police filed a case against the Orissa DGP on the charge of sheltering his son and help him jump the parole. The senior Mohanty was, however, granted bail by Orissa High Court.
On April 9, the Supreme Court, however, quashed senior Mohanty's bail and gave him six weeks to surrender before the chief judicial magistrate's court in Jaipur and ordered that he be not arrested till then.
