1 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 3441 of 2022 1 - Mala Sonwani W/o Sanjay Sonwani, Aged About 45 Years Present Janpad Member, Janpad Panchayat Mungeli R/o Village Fulwari, Post Padampur, Police Station Jarhagaon, Tehsil And District Mungeli (Chhattisgarh) ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Department Of Panchayat And Rural Development, Atal Nagar, Mantralaya, Naya Raipur, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2 - The Collector, District Mungeli (Chhattisgarh) 3 - The Sub Divisional Officer (R), Mungeli, District : Mungeli, Chhattisgarh 4 - The Chief Executive Officer, Janpad Panchayat Mungeli, District : Mungeli, Chhattisgarh 5 - The President, Janpad Panchayat Mungeli, District : Mungeli, Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s) (Cause-title taken from the Case Information System) VISHAKHA BEOHAR Digitally signed by VISHAKHA BEOHAR 2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Petitioner :- Mr. Tarun Dansena Advocate For State :- Mr.Khulesh Sahu, P.L., For Respondents No. 4 & 5 :-Mr. Aniket Verma, Advocate on behalf of Mr. Jitendra Pali, Advocate ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SB- Hon'ble Shri Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order On Board 02.05.2025 1. The petitioner, an elected member of Janpad Panchayat Mungeli, District Mungeli (C.G.), has filed this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, aggrieved by the inaction of Respondents No. 4 and 5—the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Janpad Panchayat—who have failed to take any action on the complaint submitted by the petitioner and other members alleging serious financial irregularities and misappropriation of government funds under the Janpad Panchayat Development Plan, particularly funds allocated through the 15th Finance Commission Scheme. Despite submitting detailed representations that included the names of works, amounts sanctioned, and the nature of the irregularities, no inquiry has been initiated and no action has been taken by the competent authorities. It is also alleged that although a notice was issued on 20.10.2021 for a General Assembly meeting scheduled for 26.10.2021, the meeting was not held, and during this time, Respondents No. 4 and 5 unilaterally withdrew funds and diverted them to unauthorized schemes, indicating blatant misuse of public 3 money. The continued inaction of the authorities, despite clear evidence of wrongdoing, compels the petitioner to approach this Hon’ble Court seeking appropriate directions for inquiry and necessary legal action against the concerned officials. 2. The petitioner, in this writ petition, has prayed for following reliefs:- “10.1 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to call for entire records pertaining to the case of the petitioner. 10.2 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct the respondent no. 2 to make proper inquiry regarding illegality caused by the respondent no. 4 & 5 in many Janpad Panchayat works as 15th finance development construction under the Janpad Panchayat Mungeli, District Mungeli, (C.G.) 10.3 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct the respondent no. 02 to immediate decide thecomplaint/application dated 06.07.2022 filed by the petitioner. 10.4 That, any other relief/order which may deem fit and just in the facts and circumstances of the case including award of the cost of the petition may be given.” 3. Facts of the case are that the petitioner is a citizen of India and a duly elected member of the Janpad Panchayat Mungeli, District Mungeli (C.G.), and is therefore entitled to the constitutional rights and protections guaranteed under the Constitution of India. The petitioner, along with other members and office bearers of the Panchayat, submitted a complaint alleging that Respondents No. 4 4 and 5, namely the Chief Executive Officer and the President of the Janpad Panchayat, have misused government funds by withdrawing amounts sanctioned under various schemes and diverting them to unauthorized purposes unrelated to the schemes for which the funds were originally allocated. A notice regarding a General Assembly meeting was issued by Respondent No. 4 on 20.10.2021, fixing the meeting for 26.10.2021, but the meeting was either not properly held or its proceedings were bypassed. Subsequently, without convening a General Assembly, the Chief Executive Officer unilaterally approved the Janpad Panchayat Development Plan under the 15th Finance Commission on 28.04.2022 (Annexure P-2). Furthermore, the petitioner sought verification of several works and found that, as per the Development Plan for the year 2022–23 (Annexure P-3), the President of the Panchayat (Respondent No. 5) disproportionately allocated funds to his political supporters and misused the funds for personal or unrelated works rather than the approved public projects. Accordingly, the petitioner submitted a formal complaint on 06.07.2022 before Respondents No. 2 and 3, seeking appropriate action against Respondents No. 4 and 5, but no inquiry or action has been taken to date (Annexure P-4). 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that serious financial and administrative irregularities have been committed by Respondent Nos. 4 and 5 in Janpad Panchayat, Mungeli, particularly concerning the misuse of funds allocated under the 5 15th Finance Commission. He submits that despite complaints submitted by the petitioner and other concerned office-bearers, no appropriate inquiry or action has been initiated by the competent authorities. It is submitted that false vouchers have been prepared showing execution of development works, which are in fact not present on the ground, and such misrepresentation without any physical verification is illegal. Furthermore, Respondent Nos. 4 and 5 have undertaken various works without obtaining mandatory approval from the General Body of the Panchayat, thereby violating established procedures. 5. Learned State counsel submits that the allegations made by the petitioner are baseless, misconceived, and devoid of factual or legal merit. The development works undertaken under the 15th Finance Commission have been duly approved through proper administrative channels and executed as per norms and guidelines prescribed by the competent authorities. All expenditures have been duly audited, and the vouchers and records maintained are in accordance with financial rules. The petitioner has failed to produce any concrete or verifiable evidence to substantiate the claim of non-execution of work or financial misappropriation. The petitioner’s grievance appears to be politically motivated and aimed at tarnishing the image of the respondents rather than addressing any genuine public interest. It is further submitted that due process has been followed at every stage, and any complaint submitted by the petitioner or others is 6 either under consideration or has already been addressed through appropriate administrative action. Therefore, the present petition is liable to be dismissed. 6. Learned counsel for the respondents No. 4 & 5 submits that after the complaint made by the petitioner and seeing the grievance, the Sub Divisional Officer (Revenue), Mungeli has been issued memo on 20/12/2022 and directed the respondents No. 4 & 5 for making enquiry and submitted the report. In pursuant of this, the respondent has submitted detailed report to the said officer on the same date i.e. 20.12.2022 where all the allegations of the petitioner has been checked and found false. It is submitted that for the year 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 the amount of Rs. 2.26 Crore and Rs. 1.68 Crore was allotted to Janpad Panchayat, Mungeli and work was sanctioned for 25 Janpad as per need. Also for the year 2022-2023 amount of Rs. 1.74 Crore was received under 15th finance which sanctioned in the general meeting held on 31.03.2022. It is said that the fund is given for all Janpad Panchayat and as per circular date 10.03.2021 the proposal passed in general meeting has to be enter online and after that roadmap is made by the working group and then fund is distributed as per necessity. Meanwhile, the petitioner has filed present writ petition and Hon’ble Court has pleased to issue notice and the case is still pending. Without prejudice, the respondent submit that the content showing subject matter are not deny but the allegations which are against the present respondent are 7 strongly denied. 7. I have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their submissions put forth before me and have also gone through the documents appended to the writ petition. 8. Upon perusal of the record of the petition, it is observed that there is nothing on record to prima facie establish any misappropriation or embezzlement of public funds. Although the petition contains allegations of misappropriation of certain funds, it appears that, apart from the complaint, no substantive evidence has been placed on record to support the claims of financial irregularities. On the contrary, upon receipt of the complaint, the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue), Mungeli, directed the Chief Executive Officer, Janpad Panchayat, Mungeli, to conduct an enquiry. Pursuant to such direction, an enquiry was conducted, and it was found that no misappropriation of funds was committed by Respondent No. 5. Further, there is no material on record to establish any financial misconduct on the part of Respondent No. 4. 9. In view of the above, the petition, being devoid of merit, is liable to be dismissed and is accordingly dismissed. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Vishakha