Bhubaneswar, Sep 30 (IANS): The Odisha High Court Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to BJD MLA Pravat Tripathy in the multi-thousand-crore-rupee chit fund scam case being probed by the CBI.

The court, which had reserved its order after hearing Tripathy's bail plea Monday, granted anticipatory bail to the ruling party MLA who was also the chief whip of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

The interim relief to Tripathy is valid till Oct 13.

The matter would come up for further hearing in the court after the Durga Puja vacations.

Tripathy was earlier interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of his complicity with the Artha Tatwa Group’s chit fund scam.

His house was searched by the sleuths for any vital link about his involvement in the scam.

The court has also asked the CBI to submit the report of the voice test that tried to match his voice in recorded phone conversations with the voice recorded by the CBI during his interrogation.

A local television channel had aired an audio clip containing dealing between Pravat Tripathy and AT Group chief Pradeep Tripathy, who has allegedly duped thousands of depositors in the scam.

The AT Group is said to have swindled around Rs.500 crore from the depositors in Odisha.