KOLKATA: The Bengal administration earned a reprimand from the Calcutta High Court for not taking steps against a gram panchayat pradhan of Malda’s Harishchandrapur, accused of misappropriation of flood relief funds in 2017.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj asked state advocate general Kishore Dutta if an FIR had been lodged against the accused or if he had been summoned under CrPC Section 41 . Dutta submitted that the pradhan of Boroi gram panchayat had been issued a show-cause notice.
“The state’s responsibility doesn’t end by serving a show-cause or recovering the money. Relief funds are meant for the people, not to fill up the pockets of a handful,” the bench observed.
The HC bench directed the state to submit a status report on the progress of inquiry by September 8.
