Odisha Government Reinstates IAS Officer Dhiman Chakma Months After High-Profile Bribery Arrest

The return of the 2021-batch officer to the Revenue Department follows his release on conditional bail, reigniting debates over administrative accountability.

The Odisha government has quietly reinstated Dhiman Chakma, an IAS officer who was suspended last year following a sensational bribery case that rocked the state's administrative circles. Chakma, a 2021-batch officer, has been posted as a deputy secretary in the Revenue Department. While his return to active duty has been confirmed by official sources, the government has refrained from providing a formal justification for the reinstatement, which follows his release on conditional bail granted by the High Court.

A Rapid Rise and a Sudden Fall

Before his entry into the Indian Administrative Service, Chakma had already served in the state’s bureaucracy as a 2019-batch Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, working as an assistant conservator of forests in Mayurbhanj’s Baripada. His transition to the IAS saw him take charge as the sub-collector of Dharamgarh in Kalahandi district in January 2024. However, his tenure in that role was cut short on June 9, 2025, when the Vigilance Department apprehended him in a trap.

The Bribery Allegations

Vigilance sleuths arrested the officer after he was allegedly caught accepting a Rs 10 lakh cash installment from a local businessman. According to the investigation, the total bribe demand had been set at Rs 20 lakh, with the officer reportedly leveraging his position to threaten the businessman with adverse administrative action. The situation escalated when investigators conducted subsequent searches at his official residence, where they reportedly recovered Rs 47 lakh in cash. Further raids were extended to his home state of Tripura to uncover potential financial irregularities.

Legal and Administrative Context

Following his arrest, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi placed the officer under suspension on June 10, 2025, just a day after he was remanded to judicial custody. A formal case was registered against him under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018. While the legal proceedings remain active, the decision to bring him back into the fold of the Revenue Department—rather than keeping him sidelined during the pendency of the trial—has drawn attention to the broader, often contentious, process of how the state handles bureaucrats facing serious corruption charges.

A Broader Pattern of Scrutiny

The reinstatement of Dhiman Chakma has sparked fresh discourse regarding the integrity of the state’s administrative machinery. His case is not an isolated one; it forms part of a series of corruption-related investigations involving Odisha IAS officers that have periodically tested public trust. By returning to the secretariat, the officer resumes his duties while the shadow of the ongoing bribery case continues to loom, highlighting the complex intersection between bureaucratic service rules, judicial outcomes, and the state’s commitment to rooting out graft.