Relief For Odisha IAS Officer Manish Agarwal In PA Death Case; HC Stays NBW

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has ordered a stay order on the non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued by the court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM), Malkangiri, against senior IAS officer Manish Agarwal for non-appearance in court despite several summons.

The SDJM court had issued the summons in connection with the case proceedings against him for alleged abetment of suicide of his personal assistant (PA) when he was Malkangiri Collector in 2019. Agarwal is now additional secretary in the Planning and Convergence department.

The senior IAS officer filed a petition challenging the NBW issued against him on February 1. He also sought the HC’s direction to the trial court for permitting him to appear through an advocate as per the provision under Section 205 of CrPC.

Admitting the petition, the bench of Justice S K Panigrahi issued notice to the state govt and directed to list the matter for final hearing on March 5.

“As an interim measure, it is directed that the operation of the order of NBW dated Feb 1, 2025, passed in the case pending in the court of the learned SDJM, Malkangiri, shall remain stayed till the next date of listing of this matter,” Justice Panigrahi specified in his order.

The dispute in the SDJM court centres around Agarwal’s plea seeking, through his counsel, exemption from appearance during the trial. The SDJM court emphasised that under the 1973 CrPC, an accused’s first appearance in a criminal case must be physical. The accused should first present himself before the SDJM court and then may seek exemption from personal attendance before the trial court, which is the sessions court, the magistrate said while rejecting Agarwal’s plea.

As per the case records, Deba Narayan Panda, who was then PA to the Collector in Malkangiri, went missing on December 27, 2019, and a day later, his body was fished out of Satiguda dam. While police initially registered a case of unnatural death and suicide, Panda’s wife accused Agarwal of murder.

Initially, Agarwal was booked under sections 302 (murder), 506 (intimidation), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), and 204 (destruction of document or electronic record) of IPC, and the SDJM took cognisance of the charges. But on June 26, 2023, the High Court ruled that there is no prima facie case against Agarwal for the offence.

Accordingly, the HC directed the trial court to proceed against Agarwal for the offence of abetting suicide and “to try and dispose of the case as expeditiously as possible, preferably within eight months”.

Subsequently, Agarwal challenged the HC order in the Supreme Court. However, the apex court declined to interfere with the order in November 2024.