The Rajasthan High Court has granted interim protection from arrest to Santosh Bansal, former chairperson of the Hanumangarh Municipal Council, in a case involving allegations of missing municipal records and embezzlement. The court also admitted her petition for consideration and directed that it be listed after four weeks.
A single-judge bench of Justice Sanjeet Purohit at the High Court’s principal seat in Jodhpur ordered that Bansal not be arrested in connection with the FIR registered at Hanumangarh Town police station while the matter remains pending. The order was passed after the court heard arguments that the case had been filed to harass her and was politically motivated.
The FIR invokes Sections 381, 409, 193 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, relating to theft by an employee, criminal breach of trust, fabricating false evidence and criminal conspiracy. The allegations concern missing municipal files and alleged irregularities connected with records and municipal transactions.
Appearing for Bansal, advocate Kunal Upadhyay argued that the case was malicious and that the timing of the proceedings raised concerns about political vendetta. He pointed to multiple FIRs registered within a short period and a substantial delay in reporting the alleged offences.
According to the submissions recorded in the case, the current FIR was registered in 2026 but relates to alleged incidents dating back to 2006 and 2013. Upadhyay argued that the allegations were general and did not establish Bansal’s individual role in the alleged offences.
The lawyer also referred to two earlier cases concerning alleged incidents dating back to 2003. Those cases, he submitted, were quashed by a coordinate bench of the High Court on September 29, with the court finding the proceedings to be an abuse of legal process intended to harass Bansal.
The defence further argued that allegations concerning the alleged misappropriation and disappearance of government files were directed at co-accused Malchand and Gangaram. Both had also obtained interim protection from arrest from a coordinate bench, according to the submissions before the court.
The case places municipal record management at the centre of an ongoing legal proceeding. Municipal files are used to establish decisions, approvals, transactions and administrative responsibility, making their alleged disappearance a matter of significance for local governance. The High Court’s order, however, is an interim protection order and does not decide the allegations in the FIR or determine Bansal’s liability.
The petition will be listed again after four weeks for further consideration. Until then, the arrest protection granted by the court will remain in effect in relation to the FIR.
