1 2026:CGHC:20426-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPCR No. 104 of 2026 1 - Prem Sagar Tiwari S/o Shri Shanti Swaroop Tiwari, Aged About 43 Years, R/o Village- Keshgwan, Police Station Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. ... Petitioner versus 1 - State of Chhattisgarh Through The Secretary, Department of Home Affairs, New Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Nawa Raipur, C.G. 2 - The Principal Secretary, Govt. of Chhattisgarh, Panchayat and Rural Development, Mantralaya Mahanadi Bhawan, Nava Raipur, Atal Nagar, Chhattisgarh 3 - The Commissioner MGNREGA Vikas Bhawan, 3rd Floor, Sector 19 North Block, Naya Raipur, District- Raipur, C.G. 4 - District Progarmme Co-Ordinator (MGNREGA) / Collector Korea, District- Korea, C.G. 5 - CEO Zila Panchayat, Korea, District- Korea, C.G. 6 - Vikash Awadhiya, Shikayat Samanvayak, Zila Panchayat, Korea, District- Korea, C.G. 7 - Lokpal, MGNREGA, Korea, District- Korea, C.G. Digitally signed by MOHAMMED AADIL KHAN Date: 2026.05.04 19:43:42 +0530 2 8 - CEO Janpad Panchayat, Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 9 - Smt. Manmati Singh (Sarpanch) W/o Shri Deepak Singh, Aged About 38 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 10 - Shyam Lal Suryawanshi, Aged About 53 Years, Secretary, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 11 - Smt. Savitri Singh, Aged About 45 Years, Secretary, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 12 - Nand Lal Rajwade (Then Rojgar Sahayak Keshgwan) S/o Manohar Rajwade, Aged About 40 Years, R/o Village Sonhat (Dhummadand) Gram Panchayat- Sonhat, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 13 - Santosh Kumar Dubey (Mate) S/o Shri Munikaran Dubey, Aged About 52 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 14 - Ram Janam Singh (Mate) S/o Amar Singh, Aged About 35 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 15 - Umesh Tiwari, Labour / Mate S/o Late Shyam Kartik Tiwari, Aged About 38 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 16 - Ramesh Tiwari (Labour / Mate) S/o Late Shyam Kartik Tiwari, Aged About 36 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 3 17 - Motimani Tiwari (Labour) W/o Late Shyam Kartik Tiwari, Aged About 55 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 18 - Manisha Tiwari (Labour) D/o Late Shyam Kartik, Aged About 34 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 19 - Manju Dubey (Labour) W/o Shri Santosh Dubey, Aged About 45 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 20 - Munikaran Dubey (Labour) S/o Late Devnandan Dubey, Aged About 90 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 21 - Srimati Devi (Labour) W/o Munikaran Dubey, Aged About 85 Years, Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 22 - Ram Swaroop S/o Amar Singh, Aged About 35 Years, R/o Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 23 - Ujit S/o Mersai, Aged About 55 Years, R/o Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 24 - Ajumandeva S/o Kamleshwar, Aged About 32 Years, R/o Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 25 - Umashankar Tiwari S/o Lal Bahadur Tiwari, Aged About 45 Years, R/o Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. 4 26 - Balrup S/o Baijnath, Aged About 60 Years, R/o Gram Panchayat- Keshgwan, Janpad Panchayat Sonhat, District- Korea, C.G. ... Respondents (Cause title taken from Case Information System) For Petitioner : Mr. B.S. Rajput, Advocate. For State : Mr. Saumya Rai, Deputy Govt. Advocate Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri R avindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge Order on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, C.J. 01-05-2026 1. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking the following relief(s):- “10.1.That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue an appropriate writ(s) or direction(s) to the concerned Respondents authorities for conducting a proper inquiry/investigation into the corruption and irregularities prevalent in the MNREGA works of Gram Panchayat Keshgwan against the concerned respondents for committing a large-scale, well-planned fraud in the Gram Panchayat of Keshgwan, District-Korea (C.G.). 10.2. That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly further be pleased to direct to the respondent No. 1 & 2 to initiate disciplinary proceeding as well as appropriate criminal action against the concerned responsible respondent authorities and punish 5 them in accordance with law. 10.3. That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly further be pleased to direct to the concerned authorities to recover the embezzled amount from the concerned respondents in accordance with law. 10.4. That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to pass any other writ(s), order(s) or direction(s) which the Hon'ble Court deems just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case; 10.5. That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to award the cost of petition.” 2. The facts as mentioned in the petition, in brief, are that, as per the petitioner, in the Gram Panchayat of Keshgwan, a large-scale fraud has been perpetrated under the MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme, primarily through the issuance of multiple job cards to individuals from the same family, which violates the law stating that only one job card should be provided per family. For instance, job cards were issued in the names of Umesh Kumar, Ramesh Kumar, and Motimani, all members of the same family, allowing them to exploit the system and illegally withdraw funds. Additionally, several individuals were found to have their attendance falsely recorded in the muster rolls, despite not performing any work under MNREGA, leading to the withdrawal of substantial sums of money, such as Rs. 6 80,219/- in the case of Munikaran and his wife, and Rs. 1,49,836/- in the case of Santosh and his wife Manju. Fraudulent practices also extended to the manipulation of the position of “mate.” Santosh, a mate, repeatedly registered his own attendance as well as his wife’s, despite there being a provision for rotating mates. This led to the unlawful withdrawal of funds over the years. Moreover, numerous works such as land leveling and well construction were fraudulently approved and paid for without ever being completed. For example, Rs. 1,28,000 was withdrawn for a non-existent land leveling project, and well construction projects were falsely certified as completed, despite no actual work being done. The perpetrators of this fraud, including Ramesh, Umesh, Motimani, and others, are also involved in criminal activities within the village, including an attempted murder conviction. These individuals have used their criminal influence to intimidate the local community, obstruct public services, and continue their fraudulent actions. For instance, they took control of the village’s water supply, depriving schoolchildren of access to drinking water. Despite multiple complaints from the villagers and the petitioner to higher authorities, such as the Collector and the Lokpal for MNREGA, no meaningful action has been taken to investigate or address the fraud. The authorities failed to conduct a proper inquiry, and instead, inquiries were conducted in a manner that appeared to cover up the matter rather than expose the fraud. It is further contention of the petitioner that despite the petitioner’s repeated efforts, including filing complaints and reminders from 2022 to 2025, and receiving an award from the Lokpal in 2025 indicating that an 7 inquiry was conducted, it became clear that the authorities had not acted transparently or in good faith. The authorities did not inform the complainant about the inquiry, nor did they give the petitioner an opportunity to participate, leading to the conclusion that the matter was being dismissed without proper investigation. This continued inaction by the authorities has allowed the fraud to persist unchecked, and the petitioner is now seeking justice and accountability to ensure that the culprits are prosecuted, and the villagers are provided with the benefits they are entitled to under the MNREGA scheme. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the steps and inactions of the respondent authorities in handling the serious allegations of fraud and corruption in the Gram Panchayat of Keshgwan are unjust, arbitrary, and malafide. Despite multiple complaints filed by the petitioner and the villagers in 2022, no meaningful action was taken by the authorities, and the issue remains unresolved. This failure violates the principles of transparency, accountability, and the right to justice, which are fundamental to public welfare schemes like MNREGA. It has been further submitted that the petitioner filed a detailed complaint in October 2024, which was sent to both the Collector and the Lokpal for MNREGA. However, when the Lokpal passed an award dismissing the complaint, it did so without giving the petitioner any notice or opportunity to present their side, which constitutes a clear violation of natural justice. Additionally, the petitioner was never informed about the inquiry conducted by the CEO of Zila Panchayat Korea, which further raises concerns of a cover-up. The 8 communication received from the CEO in February 2025 suggests that the authorities acted hastily to close the matter without a proper investigation. The authorities' inaction, coupled with the failure to conduct a transparent and impartial inquiry, demonstrates a systemic disregard for due process. The petitioner’s complaint was forwarded through the CPGRAM Portal in October 2025, but still, no action has been taken. This delay and lack of response only add to the suspicion that the authorities are deliberately shielding the wrongdoers, allowing the fraud to continue unchecked. Given the gravity of the fraud and the lack of effective investigation or corrective action, the petitioner approached this Court with a prayer to intervene, ensure a fair and thorough inquiry into the fraudulent activities, and direct the authorities to take appropriate legal action against those responsible. The petitioner seeks justice for the victims of this fraud and accountability for the officials who have failed to uphold the law. 4. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the State opposes the petition and submits that the respondent authorities have acted in accordance with the law, and there has been no malafide or arbitrary conduct in handling the petitioner’s complaint. The delay in addressing the allegations stems from the complexity of the case, which required a detailed investigation. The CEO of Zila Panchayat Korea conducted an inquiry into the matter, and the Lokpal MGNREGA Korea, after reviewing the findings, dismissed the complaint, as it was already addressed by the CEO. The State further submits that there was no requirement for the petitioner’s participation in the inquiry, and the 9 actions taken were in line with the established procedures. Moreover, the State denies any claim of a cover-up or systemic failure to investigate the allegations. The authorities have followed due process and acted with diligence in investigating the claims. While there has been a delay in response to the CPGRAM complaint filed in October 2025, this does not indicate inaction or a deliberate attempt to shield wrongdoers. The authorities are committed to ensuring a lawful and impartial investigation. Therefore, the petition lacks merit and should be dismissed, as the actions of the authorities were in line with the law and due process. 5. We have heard learned counsel appearing for the respective parties and perused the documents appended with the petition. 6. In light of the submissions made by both parties, it is evident that the authorities have acted within the parameters of the law, and the petitioner’s allegations of malafide, arbitrary action, and failure to conduct a proper investigation are without merit. The respondent authorities, including the CEO of Zila Panchayat Korea and the Lokpal MGNREGA Korea, have followed due process in their inquiries and have dismissed the petitioner’s complaints after proper investigation. The delay in response to certain complaints, as noted by the petitioner, is attributable to the complexity of the case and not indicative of any systemic failure or intentional cover-up. 7. Further, the petitioner has not shown any clear violation of natural justice, as the inquiry conducted by the authorities was in compliance 10 with the law. The authorities had no legal obligation to involve the petitioner in the inquiry process, and the actions taken were in line with established legal procedures. The fact that the petitioner’s complaints were addressed and found to be without merit further substantiates the authorities' adherence to due process. 8. Therefore, considering that no substantial legal grounds have been established for the claims made by the petitioner, this Court finds no reason to intervene in the matter. The petition is devoid of merit and the same is hereby dismissed. Sd/- Sd/- Sd/- /- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) (Ramesh Sinha) Judge Chief Justice Aadil