By Our Correspondent
KATAKA/BHUBANESWAR: Orissa High Court (Odisha High Court) hearing on IPS officer Susanta Kumar Nath’s anticipatory bail and interim protection and FIR-quashing pleas was held on November 6, 2026, and adjourned to November 11.
Nath (1993-batch Odisha cadre IPS, recently removed as DG Prisons and Correctional Services and posted as OSD in the Home Department) and alleged associate Kuldeep Rath face a case at Choudwar Police Station (Cuttack) registered around October 31, 2026.
The complaint was filed by former woman jailer Santoshini Dash, alleging sexual harassment, criminal intimidation, and related acts (provisions under BNS, including those relating to sexual harassment, intimidation, and common intention). The allegations include messages/invitations via Rath and claims of professional retaliation after she refused.
Nath approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail/interim protection from arrest/coercive action and quashing of the FIR. Rath filed similar petitions his matters were listed later, around December 6 in some reports.
On November 4, the court deferred the matters to November 6. On November 6, both sides presented arguments. The court questioned the delay in lodging the FIR long after the alleged incidents. Nath’s side argued the case is motivated, baseless, and timed to affect his DGP selection prospects a related matter is pending in the Supreme Court. The state government sought more time.
The High Court directed production of the up-to-date case diary and related documents and fixed the next hearing for November 11, 2026.
The matter remains pending; further updates will depend on the November 11 hearing and any production of the case diary.
He is a senior IPS officer (1993 batch). Arrests of officers of this rank are usually not taken lightly and often wait for court guidance or higher-level clearance.
The High Court is actively seized of the matter and has sought the case diary. Police often wait until the next hearing (11 November) before taking coercive steps.
Courts sometimes grant protection after reviewing the diary, especially if the delay in the FIR raises questions about the complaint’s bona fides.
If protection is granted, arrest becomes much less likely in the near term.
