Odisha Vigilance officials arrested Baliapal sub-registrar Manisha Mishra while she was allegedly accepting Rs 7,000 from a land buyer for registering a sale deed in Balasore district, officials said on Friday. The case has placed scrutiny on the functioning of land-registration offices, where delays and disputes over land classification can directly affect property transactions.
According to Odisha Vigilance, Mishra, an Odisha Revenue Service officer, had allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 from complainant Gyanaranjan Patra to register a sale deed for 14 decimal of land recorded as ‘Bajyapti Stithiban’. The department said the land was eligible for registration and should be treated as ‘Stithiban’ under guidelines issued by the revenue and disaster management department.
The complainant reportedly cited the department’s guidelines and requested that the registration be completed. Vigilance officials said Mishra allegedly refused to proceed and later reduced the demand to Rs 7,000 after Patra said he could not pay Rs 10,000. The complainant then approached Odisha Vigilance, which organised a trap operation.
A vigilance team allegedly caught Mishra accepting the money. The cash was recovered from her possession and seized, said Bikash Kumar Swain, an inspector with the Vigilance division. Swain said Mishra had personally accepted the money and had allegedly withheld the copy of the sale deed while demanding payment for completing the official work.
A case has been registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. The provision deals with a public servant allegedly accepting or obtaining an undue advantage in connection with a public duty. The allegation remains subject to investigation and legal proceedings.
Mishra joined government service in 2024 and was serving as a sub-registrar on probation, according to the report. An 11-member Vigilance team has been formed to conduct searches at multiple locations, including her residence and the houses of relatives. Simultaneous searches were underway at two locations linked to her to examine whether she had assets disproportionate to her known sources of income.
The case also highlights the administrative importance of land records and classification in property registration. For buyers, the registration of a sale deed is a critical step in establishing a documented property transaction, while the sub-registrar’s office is responsible for processing eligible instruments under the applicable rules. The investigation will establish the circumstances of the alleged demand, the treatment of the land record and any wider financial or administrative issues.
Odisha Vigilance said the full details would emerge after the searches and further investigation are completed.
