New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: In a major relief to senior Odisha IAS officer Manish Agarwal, the Supreme Court has granted him regular bail in a case related to the suicide of his Personal Assistant while serving as Collector of Malkangiri district in 2019.
Apart from Agarwal, two other accused Prakash Chandra Swain and Veliseti Benu, have also been granted regular bail in the case.
The three were earlier granted interim protection by the apex court on May 27 and June 20, 2025.
The Supreme Court put certain conditions while granting bail, stating that all three must remain present before the trial court during every hearing.
The three has been booked for abetment of suicide in connection with the death of Deba Narayan Panda, who served as PA to Manish Agarwal when he was the Malkangiri Collector.
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.
