Cuttack, Jan. 21 -- The Orissa High Court has issued an arrest warrant against Aravind Agrawal, the Higher Education Secretary, for contempt of court.

Agrawal, a 2007 batch IAS officer, failed to comply with a court order related to a case filed by Tapan Kumar Pattanaik, a retired employee of the Higher Education Department, who was denied an increment.

The case originated from a previous order dated July 30, 2025, which required the government to decide on a specific representation within eight weeks.

"With the above observations, the writ petition is disposed off, giving liberty to the petitioner to make an appropriate representation supported by evidentiary material within two weeks and if one is made, the jurisdictional OPs to take...