p. 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK ABLAPL No.2976 of 2026 Ranjan Jena …. Petitioner(s) Mr. Sujit Satapathy, Advocate -versus- State of Odisha …. Opposite Party(s) Mr. Jateswar Naik, AGA CORAM: JUSTICE SIBO SANKAR MISHRA Order No. ORDER 23.04.2026 01. 1. Heard. 2. The petitioner is seeking pre-arrest bail in connection with Tirtol P.S. Case No.106 of 2026 corresponding to G.R. Case No.116 of 2026 registered on the allegation of the commission of offences under Sections 115(2)/126(2)/296/74/75/76/351(2) of B.N.S., 2023 pending in the Court of the learned J.M.F.C., Tirtol. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner, on instruction from the petitioner, submits that, except the present bail application, no other bail application of the petitioner is pending in any other Court relating to the aforesaid F.I.R. p. 2 4. The prosecution case, in brief, is that on 15.02.2026 at about 6:30 P.M., the complainant lodged a written report before the I.I.C., Tirtol Police Station, alleging that on the same day at about 1:00 P.M., while she was returning from her workplace on a bicycle and had reached near Dhartangarah forest, the present petitioner allegedly intercepted her, pulled her saree resulting in partial disrobing, abused her in obscene language, assaulted her, and threatened her with dire consequences. 5. Learned counsel for the petitioner relying upon various judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, submits that the alleged offence prescribes the sentence lesser than seven years. However, learned counsel for the State opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail. 6 Regard being had to the nature of offence, the sentence prescribed for the alleged offence, it is expected that the Arresting Officer/Investigating Agency shall scrupulously and meticulously follow the guidelines and terms of the judgment of the Hon’ble p. 3 Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar vrs. State of Bihar and another reported in (2014) 8 SCC 273 and Satender Kumar Antil vrs. CBI reported in (2021) 10 SCC 773 as well as Pramod Kumar Ray vrs. State of Orissa reported in (2017) 67 OCR 309. 7. With this observation, the ABLAPL is disposed of. (S.S. Mishra) Judge Swarna