Bhubaneswar, Aug. 23: The court of special chief judicial magistrate, the Central Bureau of Investigation, today deferred hearing of the bureau’s petition seeking a 14-day remand of Artha Tatwa (AT) Group chairman-cum-managing director Pradeep Sethy.

The hearing has now been scheduled for Monday.

The bureau had filed the remand petition in the court following a series of raids, including that on the corporate office of the group located in Bhubaneswar, across the state. The CBI petition assumes significance as the central agency had found nexus of the group with a number of political heavyweights and influential people from other walks of life.

On August 17, the CBI had seized a number of computer hard disks from the AT Group’s office in Kharavela Nagar apart from several photographs, which showed Sethy in the company of BJD leaders.

“We submitted to the court that the CBI had filed the remand petition under Section 167 of CrPC, which is not applicable at this stage. As the CBI has showed the case as a continual case but Sethy has been in jail for more than a year, we argued that this section won’t be applicable in the case at this stage,” said Sethy’s counsel Durga Prasad Dhal. He said the next hearing would be held on August 25.

Sethy, who is lodged in Jharpada jail, today hinted at his alleged nexus with political leaders and builders. “I will co-operate with the central agency and disclose the information that I have,” he told mediapersons on the court premises.

The CBI on August 17 had taken Sambit Kumar Khuntia, one of the directors of the AT Group, on a 10-day remand after he was arrested during the raids. During interrogation, Khuntia had made startling revelations regarding the involvement of a number of senior government officers and police personnel in shielding the company.

As many as 26 cases, including two in Bhubaneswar, have been registered against the company. The police said the first case against the group was registered in February last year, which led to Sethy’s arrest in May 2013.