New Delhi: An Odisha government officer was fired within five days of being caught allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 7,000. The state’s civil servants are questioning whether the government follows the same standards of accountability for senior and junior officials accused of corruption.
Manisha Mishra, a probationary Odisha Revenue Service (ORS) officer posted as Sub-Registrar in Baliapal, Balasore district, was arrested by the Odisha Vigilance Department on 7 November, a day after she was allegedly caught accepting the money from a land purchaser. On 10 November, the state government terminated her services with immediate effect.
“She was on probation, that is the reason she got terminated this easily. We received a complaint and acted on it. It was related to registration of a land sale deed. She was posted as Sub-Registrar,” an officer involved in the investigation of Mishra’s case told ThePrint.
The government action has triggered a debate over the treatment of probationary officers compared with senior bureaucrats facing corruption allegations. IAS officer Dhiman Chakma, who was arrested in June 2025 for allegedly accepting a Rs 10 lakh bribe was reinstated this year in May. As per an Economic Times report, investigators said they had caught him red-handed.
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Too harsh or in public interest?
According to the Vigilance investigation, Manisha Mishra had allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 from complainant Gyanaranjan Patra, a resident of Pancharukhi village, for registering a sale deed and issuing the document for his 0.14-acre plot. When Patra expressed his inability to pay the amount, she allegedly agreed to accept Rs 7,000.
The complainant approached the Balasore Vigilance authorities, following which a trap was laid by the officials to catch Mishra in the act. She was allegedly caught accepting the money in her office chamber on 6 November. The entire amount was recovered from her possession.
A case was registered at Baleshwar Vigilance Police Station under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. Mishra was arrested the following day and remanded to judicial custody till 20 November.
In its termination order, the Revenue and Disaster Management Department said Mishra had not completed her probation period under the Odisha Revenue Service Recruitment Rules, 2011, and the Odisha Revenue Service Group-B (Probation and Departmental Examination) Rules, 2016.
The order described her alleged conduct as a case of “gross misconduct, personal immorality” and a direct violation of the Odisha Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1959.
It further stated that the appointing authority, after considering the report submitted by the General Administration (Vigilance) Department, was satisfied that her “further continuance in service is highly detrimental to public interest”.
The government invoked Rule 17(2) of the ORS Recruitment Rules, 2011, read with the relevant provisions of the 2016 rules, to terminate her services with immediate effect.
However, some officials have questioned whether the investigating authorities show the same urgency when senior officers face corruption allegations.
In June 2025, Odisha Vigilance arrested 2021-batch IAS officer Dhiman Chakma, then Sub-Collector of Dharamgarh in Kalahandi district, for allegedly accepting Rs 10 lakh from a businessman running a stone crusher unit. The alleged amount was the first instalment of a Rs 20 lakh bribe. Vigilance officials also recovered Rs 47 lakh in cash on searching his official residence.
Chakma was suspended following his arrest. The Orissa High Court granted him bail in July 2025. In May 2026, the state government reinstated him and posted him as Deputy Secretary in the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, while the criminal case and departmental proceedings are still pending.
Chakma’s reinstatement drew criticism on social media, with users questioning how an officer accused of accepting a substantial bribe could return to a government posting while the case remained pending.
In another case in Rajasthan, probationary IPS officer Madhav Upadhyay came under scrutiny in April 2026 over allegations of an extortion network linked to illegal garnet mining in Bhilwara district. A vigilance inquiry also examined an allegation involving Rs 3 lakh allegedly paid to him to settle complaints against a police officer. Upadhyay denied wrongdoing and was subsequently placed on Awaiting Posting Orders (APO). The allegations against him remain under investigation.
“What she did was wrong, but direct termination is a little too harsh in this case. There are many such cases involving senior officials, but they continue in service. That is partiality,” a senior Odisha Administrative Service officer told ThePrint, on the condition of anonymity.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)