The Supreme Court has stayed further proceedings in the 2020 criminal case filed by actor and former MP Anubhav Mohanty's former wife, actor Varsha Priyadarshini. The court issued notice on his petition challenging an Orissa high court order that refused to discharge him from the case.
A bench of Justices Sandip Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi on Monday issued notice to the respondents and posted the matter for hearing on Aug 7, 2026. “In the meantime, further proceedings of case arising out of the FIR 2020 shall remain stayed,” the Supreme Court ordered. The relief came on Mohanty's special leave petition against the Jan 30, 2026, judgment of the Orissa high court, which upheld a trial court order rejecting his plea for discharge.
The criminal case stems from a complaint lodged by Varsha at Purighat police station in Cuttack on Dec 19, 2020. She alleged that Mohanty subjected her to harassment, mental cruelty and wrongful confinement at his Nandi Sahi residence on Dec 18, 2020, when the couple was already embroiled in matrimonial litigation.
Following investigation, police filed a chargesheet on Dec 18, 2023, against Mohanty and his associates, Sujit Dalei and Khagendra Prasad Sahoo, under Sections 498-A, 509, 341, 294 and 506 of the IPC. Mohanty and the two co-accused challenged the trial court's refusal to discharge them. However, the high court dismissed their petition, holding that there was sufficient material on record to proceed with the trial.
“The allegations made by Varsha are clear and unequivocal to attract such offences against Anubhav despite taking note of the fact that both were having the status of husband and wife, regardless of their estranged relationship on the date of occurrence,” the high court observed while affirming the trial court's order.
In his appeal before the Supreme Court, Mohanty contended that the FIR was lodged as a retaliatory measure after he initiated divorce proceedings against Varsha. The couple, who married on Feb 8, 2014, were granted divorce by a court order on Dec 21, 2023.
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