'Aggravated Contempt': Orissa High Court Issues Arrest Warrant Against IAS Officer Over Repeated Non-Compliance Of Order

In a rare move, the Orissa High Court has ordered issuance of arrest warrant against senior IAS officer Arvind Agrawal, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Government of Odisha ('DHE') over repeated non-compliance of the Court's order asking him to consider the representation of an ex-academician, who had prayed for grant of a notional increment.While passing order for production of the senior bureaucrat before the Court, the Bench of Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad remarked –“Till date, there is no compliance in terms of undertaking. Thus, there is non-compliance of the order and there is breach of undertaking. Therefore, it is a case of aggravated contempt.”The case emanates from the representation submitted by a retired academician (the petitioner) to the Secretary, DHE. The petitioner had made a representation last year seeking the benefit of a notional increment. He had relied upon certain cases decided by the High Court by which similarly situated persons had been granted the sought reliefs.While taking up the writ petition of the petitioner in July last year, the Court had asked the authority to take a decision on the subject representation and also to inform the result thereof to the petitioner within a period of eight (8) weeks. To the dismay of the Court, no such compliance was reported for which a contempt case was initiated.When contempt case was taken up in December 2025, the State Counsel had assured the Court that compliance shall be reported on the next date of hearing. The matter was again taken up on 16.01.2026. Despite the clear assurance of the State Counsel on the last date, no compliance was reported.Justice Shripad was irked by inaction and intransigence of the authority in clear disregard of judicial orders. Thus, he ordered –“In the above circumstances, issue arrest warrant against the sole contemnor to produce him before this Court on 22.01.2026. However, in the meanwhile, if the compliance is reported, there shall be no coercive action in terms of this order against the contemnor.”Case Title: Tapan Kumar Pattanaik v. Arvind Agrawal, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Govt. of Odisha, Higher Education Department, BhubaneswarCase No: CONTC No. 5546 of 2025Date of Order: January 16, 2026Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. S. Jena, AdvocateCounsel for the State: Mr. S.K. Jee, Additional Government AdvocateClick Here To Read/Download Order

'Aggravated Contempt': Orissa High Court Issues Arrest Warrant Against IAS Officer Over Repeated Non-Compliance Of Order

Jyoti Prakash Dutta

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