Block edu officer gets anticipatory bail in dead employee’s salary case

Block edu officer gets anticipatory bail in dead employee’s salary case 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 09.10.2024

Bhopal/Jabalpur : The Madhya Pradesh high court refused anticipatory bail to three accused but granted relief to one in a case involving the fraudulent withdrawal of salary for three years after an employee's death. Justice AK Paliwal, while hearing the matter, granted anticipatory bail to the current block education officer (BEO) of Niwas in Mandla district, Shobha Iyer, but denied the same to Vijay Kumar Shrivastav, assistant grade III in the BEO office, and two former BEOs, Ramnarayan Patel and Anand Ku mar Jain. 

A case was registered against them when it was discovered that the salary of a deceased govt employee, Gyan Singh Dhoomketu, who passed away on April 13, 2020, continued to be credited into the account of another person, Satish Kumar Burman, a computer operator. The fraudulent payments spanned the tenures of former BEOs Patel and Jain, with Vijay Kumar Shrivastav, a clerk in their office, allegedly colluding in the act. The court, however, noted that Shobha Iyer joined as BEO at Niwas only in March 2023 and immediately flagged the anomaly upon discovery, leading to her filing a complaint. 

Advocate Amrit Ruprah, representing Iyer, argued that her client, a 61-year-old woman, had no involvement in the embezzlement. Iyer was unaware of the irregularities until she assumed charge. It was Iyer who halted the disbursement of the deceased employee's salary and brought the matter to the attention of authorities. The court granted bail to Iyer, taking into account her limited involvement and her role in exposing the fraud. However, the court denied bail to the other accused, citing their direct responsibility during the period of the embezzlement