Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: In a major relief to former Malkangiri District Collector and IAS officer Manish Agarwal, the Supreme Court today granted him regular bail in a case related to the death of his personal assistant. Along with Agarwal, two other accused, Prakash Chandra Swain and Veliseti Benu, have also been granted regular bail in the same case.

The three were earlier granted interim protection by the apex court on May 27 and June 20, 2025.

While granting bail, the Supreme Court imposed certain conditions, stating that all three must remain present before the trial court during every hearing.

The trio has been booked for abetment of suicide in connection with the death of Deba Narayan Panda, who served as the personal assistant to Manish Agarwal when he was the Malkangiri Collector in 2019.

According to case records, Panda’s body was recovered from Satiguda Dam on December 28, 2019. Although the police initially treated the case as an unnatural death, later suspected to be suicide, Panda’s wife alleged foul play and accused the then Collector of being involved in her husband’s murder.

Following her complaint, a case was registered against Agarwal, and the SDJM court took cognisance of murder charges. However, on June 26, 2023, the Orissa High Court ruled that there was no prima facie evidence to support the murder charge and instead directed the trial court to proceed with the case under charges of abetment to suicide.

Agarwal approached the Supreme Court after the Orissa High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea.

The case was registered under Sections 302, 506, 201, 204, 120B, and 34 of the IPC at Malkangiri Police Station on November 13, 2020.