Cuttack: Orissa High Court wants to know the number of witnesses that have been examined in the Shanti Mishra murder case to consider the bail application filed by former Congress MLA Ramesh Chandra Jena.

The murder was committed at Gosaninuagaon town in Ganjam district on January 29, 2013. The former Sanakhemundi MLA was arrested in connection with the murder on September 19, 2016 and has since been in jail.

Police filed charge sheet in the high-profile murder case on October 13, 2016, implicating the former MLA under sections 190 A (threatening persons to give false evidence), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and alleging that the murder had been committed at behest of the Congress leader. Several other persons were named accused in the case.

The additional sessions judge court rejected his bail plea on May 4, 2017 and the high court on July 25, 2017. Jena had recently moved the high court for bail again.

The bail application came up on Thursday. Taking note of the bail petition, the single-judge bench of Justice S.K. Sahoo posted the matter to May 15 for hearing, along with an update on the witnesses examined in the case following filing of charge sheet.

Justice Sahoo accordingly directed the state government to submit by then the number of charge sheet witnesses examined in the murder case so far.

Earlier, during hearing of the previous bail petition filed in the high court by the former MLA, it was stated that in the Shanti Mishra murder case, out of 29 charge sheet witnesses, 19 had already been examined and the rest 10 were official witnesses. Accordingly, bail was sought on the ground that his release will therefore in no way hamper the trial of the case.