Interim Bail Relief For Odisha IAS Officer Manish Agarwal In PA Suicide Case

Cuttack: The Supreme Court has granted interim bail to senior IAS officer Manish Agarwal, who is accused of abetting the suicide of his Personal Assistant while serving as Collector of Malkangiri district in 2019.

The apex court’s bench, comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta, directed Agarwal to surrender before the trial court, furnish bail bonds, and be released on interim bail, while issuing a notice returnable on July 22 to the state government.

Agarwal, currently serving as Additional Secretary, Planning and Convergence department, had approached the SC after the Orissa High Court denied his anticipatory bail plea on April 25, citing the balance between individual liberty and societal law and order.

The IAS officer had sought interim protection after the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) court, Malkangiri, rejected his plea seeking exemption from appearance during the trial.

On December 28, 2019, Deba Narayan Panda, Agarwal’s personal assistant, was found dead in the Satiguda dam Initially, police treated it as an unnatural death and suicide, but Panda’s wife accused Agarwal of murder. Although Agarwal was initially charged with murder, the Orissa High Court, on June 26, 2023, found no prima facie evidence for murder and instructed the trial court to proceed with the abetment of suicide charge.