He brought justice to a judge who died on board a train. He awarded life-sentences to the accused in a much-publicised gangrape case. He dared to indict powerful bureaucrats in another case—even returned half of the money he received to run his commission. And yesterday, Mahendra Nath Patnaik, 59, sentenced Dara Singh to death.At a time when Gujarat shows how getting justice in a hate crime is such a long journey, Patnaik, who started out from a local court as a munsif 31 years ago, has reason to be satisfied.Presiding over the Khurda District and Sessions court in Bhubaneswar yesterday, Patnaik found Dara Singh guilty for burning Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons while they were asleep in their vehicle.A portion from his 154-page-long judgment reads: ‘‘By burning two innocent small boys along with their father while they were asleep, Dara Singh. has added a new chapter to the children’s rhyme book: I met murder on the way. It had a mask like Dara Singh.’’Sources who have watched the judge handle the case said that the Staines’ murder case was an extension of what he’s been doing all these years.He has headed two commissions and in each he submitted the report in record time. He was first asked to head a commission in 1997-98 to look into the death of then Chief Justice of Sikkim J K Mohanty who suffered a cardiac arrest while travelling in a train (Dhauli Express) from Cuttack to Balasore.Patnaik indicted the Railways for being negligent in providing medical assistance to Mohanty at the nearest station after he complained of chest pain. He also found them guilty of showing disrespect to the body of a Chief Justice, which was left unattended under a tree apparently because personnel were waiting for the train to vacate the platform and did not want to make the effort of ferrying it across the overbridge.He was next appointed in 2001 to inquire into Dreamfest, an inter-university festival at Bhubaneswar Club, run by the top bureaucrats and retired officials of the city. Students protested against club patrons alleging that women students had been molested at the poolside during the fest.Patnaik found the organisers and high-profile patrons guilty and indicted them in his report. The findings were submitted well before time and Patnaik even returned nearly half the money sanctioned to the commission. He presided over the famous Anjana gangrape case and within a couple of months sentenced the two accused to life imprisonment. Another related petition of a former advocate general accused by Anjana is lying pending with him. He is also finalising his findings into the liquor tragedy in Khurda district.Patnaik has his hands full. While Dara Singh and his lawyers may get busy approaching a higher court, for the Khurda District and Sessions Judge the case stands shut!
