Cuttack, Aug. 20: The Justice A.S. Naidu Commission, appointed by the Orissa government to probe into the alleged assault of a judicial magistrate in Rourkela by policemen, today decided to first go for a “spot visit” before recording the statements of witnesses.

“The commission feels that a spot visit is necessary to appreciate the statements filed before the commission,” Justice A.S. Naidu observed, while fixing September 3 for the visit.

The commission has so far received 36 affidavits. Three of them were filed today on behalf of Arun Patnaik (the then judicial magistrate first class, Rourkela), his wife Subhasmita Satpathy and uncle Bijay Patnaik by their counsel Aditya Narayan Das.

The alleged incident involving the judicial magistrate and the local police took place on the night of April 2.

The Orissa government had on April 16 appointed the inquiry commission to conduct a probe and submit within three months a report with “an analysis of the sequence of events and circumstances leading to the incident along with the role, conduct and responsibility of the persons involved in it”.

The government had fixed Cuttack as the commission’s headquarters but left open the option for it to hold inquiry at Rourkela or elsewhere as may be necessary.

The commission, which had its first sitting in Cuttack today, granted the state government seven days time to file an affidavit, while directing it “to file true copies of the FIR, relevant reports and inventories, if any, along with the counter statement filed by it”.

Justice Naidu, however, said: “At the outset, the commission makes it clear that the inquiry being a time-bound one, the commission will try its level best to conclude it within the time stipulated in the notification. Thus granting time to any concern bereft of justifiable reasons will not be possible. But then considering the facts stated in the petitions filed before the commission, and today being the first sitting of the commission, the commission feels that ends of justice would be better served if some time as sought by the parties is granted to enable them to file the statements.”

The state government had filed a petition today seeking more time “so as to enable the state to file statements supported by affidavits of officers who are working in different places of the state and have not been able to appear before the commission”.

Six other persons had filed petitions seeking some more time to enable them to file their complete statements along with affidavits following the requirements indicated in the notification issued by the commission.

The date for the next sitting will be decided on September 3 after a spot visit to Rourkela.

“As the inquiry is being conducted against the police personnel, the commission does not want to take help of the state police. The government is called upon to make security arrangement from other sources,” Justice Naidu said in his order.

Among those who had filed affidavits are Diptesh Kumar Pattnayak (the then SP Rourkela, now on leave), Ram Kumar Panda (the then additional SP Rourkela) , Mohammad Ajmal (general secretary of All Orissa Judicial Officers’ Association, who is currently additional district judge, Rourkela) and six members of the Rourkela Bar Association.