MP sarpanch 'leases' her panchayat to repay Rs 20 lakh loan, sacked after probe

BHOPAL: To repay a loan of Rs 20 lakh, a sarpanch in MP's Guna district allegedly struck a deal, 'leasing out' her panchayat to a local person with the condition that he would repay the loan. It was then 'handed over' to a third person through a notarised affidavit. When news of this reached the administration, the sarpanch, Laxmi Bai, was dismissed on May 9.

Every panchayat is allocated a budget to carry out development works in its area with the sarpanch holding the purse strings. The bizarre notarised deal was inked in 2022 for Karod panchayat on the outskirts of Guna, around 220km from Bhopal, officials said.

Following an investigation by the Guna subdivisional magistrate, district panchayat officials lodged a police complaint. Police filed an FIR against Ranveer Singh Kushwaha, a resident of the area who allegedly took over the panchayat after assuring to repay the sarpanch's alleged loan and then 'handed it over' to a third person.

Adetailed probe was carried out following a complaint after which action was taken against the sarpanch and the person who was involved in the deal with her, Guna district panchayat CEO Abhishek Dubey confirmed to TOITuesday. Since panchayat elections were held in 2022, there were allegations that the loan was taken by Laxmi Bai to contest the polls, but this is not mentioned in the FIR. Denying the charges, sarpanch’s husband, Shankar Singh, told TOI on phone: “We have not taken any money from anyone. Laxmi Bai has been removed from the post.”

TOI has a copy of the FIR, which says Ranveer executed the deal with the sarpanch through an affidavit on a Rs 100 stamp paper, which was notarised. “Examination of the photocopy… makes it clear that an agreement was made between sarpanch Laxmi Bai and Ranveer for conducting the works of the gram panchayat...,” the FIR says. However, the FIR does not specify what ‘TS cost’ is.