Cuttack: Bringing a sigh of relief for dreaded Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, the Orissa High Court (HC) today admitted his petition challenging a trial court's verdict that has sentenced him to life imprisonment in connection with a case in 2014.

Panda had moved the HC on July 17 and filed a petition claiming that the conviction judgement is illegal, erroneous and unsustainable in the eye of law and was passed ‘without application of mind’.

On May 18, the Berhampur Additional District and Sessions Judge Court-1 had sentenced him to life imprisonment under Section-121 (Waging War Against the State) of IPC. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on Panda.

After the verdict, Panda's counsel Deepak Patnaik had said that police slapped several false cases against his client following his arrest in 2014. "Panda has already been acquitted in 52 out of around 135 cases. We will move to higher court to challenge the judgement," Patnaik had stated.

On July 17, 2014, police had arrested Panda from Badabazar area here and seized several firearms, cash and gold from his possession.