The Chhattisgarh High Court has put a stay on the recovery order issued by the CEO of the Kabirdham district panchayat against the former sarpanch of Dashrangpur. The court has also asked the state authorities to file their replies.
The petitioner served as sarpanch from January 2020 to February 2025. During this period, a complaint was made against the village secretary alleging irregularities in ten development works. These included installing a motor pump that was later found missing, constructing the panchayat’s boundary wall, repairing a government building, creating a new drinking water source, drilling a borewell, road repairs, drainage work, and building a water tank.
A physical verification was carried out, and the investigation team matched the on-ground situation with the records. They recorded the statements of the sarpanch and the secretary. The report found that the listed works had been carried out, payments were properly entered in the cash book, required approvals were taken in gram sabha meetings, and there was no misuse of funds.
Despite these findings, the CEO of Kabirdham janpad panchayat ordered a fresh inquiry after receiving another complaint, this time related to missing geo-tagging and allegations of payments for incomplete work. The second inquiry concluded that Rs 9,07,723 had been misused. On that basis, the district panchayat CEO issued a recovery order on November 3, 2025.
The former sarpanch challenged the order in the High Court through advocate Mateen Siddiqui. During the hearing on November 18, Justice Partha Pratim Sahu was told that a second inquiry on the same facts was not proper, especially when the first investigation had already cleared the petitioner.
The court agreed and stayed the recovery order. The respondents, including the Panchayat Department Secretary, the Kabirdham Collector, the SDO of Kawardha, and other panchayat officials, have been directed to submit their responses.
