COIMBATORE: The Madras High Court has directed the Coimbatore district collector Kranthi Kumar Pati to take appropriate action against Ramapattinam panchayat president R Ponnusamy under Section 205 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act, 1994, within eight weeks after receiving the court order copy, for misappropriation of panchayat funds.
Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan, in his order dated October 1, stated that Ponnusamy had misappropriated several lakhs of rupees while executing schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme without constructing the check dam at the Jalathu Sethu Thottam.
The judge also quashed the order passed by the Assistant Director of Rural Development Panchayat, who dropped the action against Ponnusamy on April 30, 2024. After finding irregularities and misappropriation of funds, the collector issued a show-cause notice to Ponnusamy and directed the Assistant Director of Rural Development Panchayat to take action against him. “The court finds infirmity in the order passed by the Assistant Director of Rural Development Panchayat, and it cannot be sustained and is liable to be quashed,” the judge said.
The court observed that without even knowing that the construction of the check dam was coming under the Public Works Department, panchayat president Ponnusamy disbursed salary to labourers and also purchased materials thereby misappropriating huge sum of money from the Ramapattinam village panchayat.
“Therefore, the Ombudsperson MGNREGS found a prima facie case to initiate action against the panchayat president as per the three sets of charges, including misappropriation of Rs 5.58 lakh. Even then, the district collector exonerated the panchayat president by considering the one set of charges alone,” the judge said.
RC Ramaraj, a resident of Ramanathapuram village in Ramapattinam Panchayat and DMK Pollachi North, West Union’s Additional Secretary, filed a writ petition at the Madras High Court seeking removal of Ponnusamy for misappropriation of funds.