New Delhi, May 29 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Manish Agarwal, IAS and former Collector of Malkangiri district in Odisha, to surrender before the trial court in the suspicious death of his Personal Assistant (PA) in 2019.
The top court ordered that upon surrender, he will be released on interim bail subject to furnishing bail bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court.
A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta passed the order while hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Agarwal against the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea.
The case pertains to the death of Deba Narayan Panda, who was working as the PA to Agarwal when he was serving as Collector, Malkangiri. Panda went missing on December 27, 2019, while on duty, and his body was recovered the next day from the Satiguda dam. A post-mortem conducted by a team of doctors concluded that the cause of death was ante-mortem drowning with no signs of external injury or violence.
On November 13, 2020, Panda’s wife lodged a complaint before the SDJM, Malkangiri, alleging that her husband went to the collector’s residence on the day of the incident and never returned. She held Agarwal responsible for her husband’s death. Following her complaint, the SDJM directed police to register an FIR and investigate the matter under Section 156(3) CrPC.
The police, however, submitted a closure report ruling out foul play.
Challenging the closure report, the complainant filed a protest petition claiming a botched investigation and alleged deliberate cover-up of the then Collector’s involvement. The SDJM recorded her statement and those of four witnesses, ultimately taking cognisance and issuing summons to the accused.
In response, Agarwal and others moved the Orissa High Court seeking quashing of the proceedings. Justice Sashikanta Mishra, while hearing the quashing plea, struck down charges under Sections 302 and 506 IPC but held that charges under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention) IPC could be sustained based on the available materials.
Agarwal later challenged this order before the Supreme Court, but in November 2024, a division bench comprising justices MM Sundresh and Justice Aravind Kumar declined to interfere with the High Court’s decision, effectively allowing the trial to proceed.
Meanwhile, the SDJM issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Agarwal, noting that personal appearance on the first date was mandatory.
The case was posted for the execution of the NBW on February 28. Agarwal sought relief from the High Court by filing a revision petition, seeking to stay the NBW and requesting permission to appear through counsel under Section 205 CrPC. The High Court issued an interim stay on the NBW.
Agarwal and his co-accused moved anticipatory bail applications, which were rejected by the Orissa High Court on April 28, 2025.
This led to the filing of the current SLP before the Supreme Court.
With today’s order, the Supreme Court has granted interim relief to the ex-collector while paving the way for the trial to continue in accordance with law.
