CUTTACK: Senior IAS Officer Manish Agarwal was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on Tuesday in connection with the case on abetment of suicide of his personal assistant (PA) when he was Malkangiri collector five years ago.
Agarwal had moved the Supreme Court after the Orissa High Court rejected his anticipatory bail petition on April 25. While issuing notice returnable on July 22 to the state government, the apex court’s division bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta said, “Meanwhile, the petitioner may surrender before the trial court and furnish bail bonds to its satisfaction upon which he shall be released on interim bail,”
Agarwal, who is presently additional secretary, Planning and Convergence department had sought interim protection after the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) court, Malkangiri, rejected his plea seeking exemption from appearance during the trial.
He had filed an anticipatory bail petition before the high court expressing apprehension that if he appears before the SDJM Court, he will be remanded in custody on the ground that offence under Section 306 of IPC (abetting suicide) is triable by the Court of Sessions.
But a single judge of the Orissa High Court had rejected Agarwal’s plea on grounds of merit citing the Supreme Court’s observation, “Just as liberty is precious for an individual, so is the interest of the society in maintaining law and order. Both are extremely important for the survival of a civilised society.”
According to the case records, body of Deba Narayan Panda, who was PA to then collector Agarwal was fished out from the Satiguda dam on December 28, 2019. Police registered a case of unnatural death and suicide, but Panda’s wife accused the collector of murder.
Initially, Agarwal was booked for murder and the SDJM court took cognisance of the charge. But on June 26, 2023, the high court ruled that there is no prima facie case against Agarwal for the offences and directed the trial court to proceed against him for abetment of suicide.