DC suspends Churah gram panchayat representatives in apple sapling scam

Deputy Commissioner Mukesh Repaswal has suspended the pradhan and up-pradhan of Sanwal gram panchayat in Churah subdivision of Chamba for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore apple sapling procurement scam.

The action was taken after the two panchayat representatives were arrested and remained in judicial custody for more than 15 days and the Supreme Court refused to grant them anticipatory bail.

They have now been directed to immediately hand over the panchayat seal, records and all property to the Panchayat Secretary.

The case traces back to 2022 when a complaint was submitted to the Chief Secretary alleging irregularities in MGNREGA-funded plantation work. Investigations revealed that the panchayat had spent around Rs 1.17 crore on apple saplings and transferred Rs 88 lakh directly to the bank accounts of the vendors. A nursery vendor was found to have supplied 48,500 saplings to the panchayat though he was authorised to sell only 22,500 saplings. The Horticulture Department confirmed that the vendor had just 22,400 plants to sell during 2022-23 yet more than double the number was shown as purchased.

Also, nearly 5,000 saplings were discovered stored near the home of a panchayat representative. Many of the submitted bills appeared to be written in the same handwriting, strengthening the suspicion of manipulation. Financial scrutiny also uncovered large money transactions from the vendors’ bank accounts to the bank accounts linked to the panchayat representatives. The police later sent the handwriting and signature samples of all accused to a forensic lab for verification.

Physical inspections painted an equally grim picture. Plantation sites, including areas near the primary school at Sanwal, showed highly irregular planting patterns. In one field, 310 saplings were planted on a one bigha though the scientific norm is between 22 and 32 saplings. While the panchayat members attempted to justify their actions and claimed that heavy rainfall had destroyed over 7,000 plants, the Revenue Department records showed that no such rainfall had occurred during the period in question. Of the 19,387 saplings reportedly planted, the majority had dried up.

Eight people were named in the case, namely former Zila Parishad member Karam Chand, pradhan Mohan Lal, up-pradhan Pooja Devi, Gram Rojgar Sevak Mohinder Singh, vendors Baig Mohammad and Vijay Kumar, Panchayat Secretary Mahinder Singh and Junior Engineer Raj Kumar. The High Court of Himachal Pradesh and the Supreme Court had rejected their bail pleas.

The Deputy Commissioner said that the action was taken in accordance with the Panchayati Raj Act and the district administration intended to ensure accountability in the ongoing investigation.