Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The principal bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur on Saturday 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 current block education officer (BEO) of Niwas (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 Kumar Jain.

The accused are facing charges under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B, and 34 of IPC along with Section 66 of Information Technology Act.

Advocate Amrit Ruprah who appeared on behalf of BEO Iyer said, “The scandal came to light when it was discovered that the salary of a deceased government employee Gyan Singh Dhoomketu who died on April 13, 2020, continued to be credited into the account of computer operatpor Satish Kumar Burman.”

The fraudulent payments spanned the tenures of former BEOs Ramnarayan Patel and Anand Kumar Jain, with Vijay Kumar Shrivastav working as a clerk. However, Iyer took charge only in March 2023 and immediately flagged the anomaly upon discovery, leading to her filing a complaint, advocate Ruprah added.