{The DC has recommended that the banks involved be de-empanelled}
Official documents showed the funds were deposited in four private sector banks, one public sector bank, and one co-operative bank. HT on September 17 reported the alleged irregularities in how the two Panipat panchayats, Bal Jattan and Khandra, handled public funds and deposited them in private sector banks without approval. As per two separate September 29 communications sent by the Panipat DC, Harish Vashist, to additional chief secretaries of finance and development and panchayats departments, the two sarpanches – Surender Rathi of Bal Jattan gram panchayat and Sonia of Khandra gram panchayat – were placed under suspension under Section 51 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act on September 28. Gram sachiv of Bal Jattan and Khandra, Manish Kumar, a government employee, was placed under suspension on September 17 under Section 7 of Haryana Civil Services (Punishment and Appeals) Rules. A high-level committee led by ACS finance to review the state banking policy and unauthorised fund transfer was set up after the IDFC First Bank scandal had on May 18, 2026, recommended that quotations for FDs should be invited from all the empanelled banks and a comparative statement be prepared by the senior most accounts officer posted who will make recommendations in accordance with the prescribed guidelines and the proposal shall be approved by the head of the office.
The violation was striking, occurring against the backdrop of the multi-crore IDFC First Bank financial scandal that shook the Haryana government earlier this year.
The September 29 communications said that show cause notices were issued to the two sarpanches and they were given an opportunity of personal hearing. After consideration of their replies and taking into consideration an inquiry done by Panipat additional DC, the two sarpanches were placed under suspension. The district administration had also issued show cause notices to the district development and panchayat officer, Rajesh Kumar, and block development and panchayat officer, Matlauda, Vishal. However, no further action has been taken against them. The DC further wrote that banks failed to explain the reason why they had made the existing FDRs in favour of sarpanch and DC without the signature/consent of the undersigned.
“Apart from this, they also failed to explain why some of the existing FDs had been made in favour of sarpanch only even after the resolution passed by the gram panchayat containing the name of sarpanch and the DC,” the letter said. It further said all the existing FDs have now been made jointly in the favour of sarpanch and the DC.
