Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has dropped contempt proceedings against state’s Higher Education Secretary Arvind Agrawal after he appeared in person and tendered an apology for delay in complying with the court’s order.
Notably, the High Court had issued an arrest warrant against the senior IAS officer on January 20, directing that he be produced on January 22 in connection with what it termed “aggravated contempt” arising out of non-compliance with its earlier order.
Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad had then observed that there was not only a failure to follow the court’s directions but also a breach of an undertaking given to the court.
Recording subsequent compliance, Justice Shripad noted in his order that the grievance raised by the complainant had been addressed through an order dated January 20, in terms of the court’s earlier direction of July 30, 2025.
The additional govt advocate, appearing for the senior IAS officer, tendered an unconditional apology for the delay.
In view of this development, contempt proceedings against the officer were dropped by the court.
The contempt case arose from a writ petition filed by Tapan Kumar Pattanaik, a retired employee of the department, who had alleged that he was denied a service increment on the ground that he superannuated shortly thereafter.
