Morbi illegal toll booths: Gujarat govt moves to suspend accused sarpanch, he skips hearing

Amarshi Patel alias Amarshi Vansjaliya, son of prominent Patidar leader Jeram Vansjaliya, was also named in the FIR registered under Indian Penal Code sections 384 (extortion), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 320 (causing grievous hurt by doing an act so rashly and negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others), 506(2) (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intent).

Dharmendrasinh’s wife Varshaba is a BJP member of the Wankaner taluka panchayat. She was president of the taluka panchayat till September. His father Bahadursinh Zala, who died last year, served as the sarpanch of Vaghasia for 20 years.

A day after Dharmendrasinh was booked by the Wankaner town police, the taluka development officer reported the matter to DD Jadeja, the district development officer. Jadeja served a notice on the 38-year-old politician on December 6 asking why he should not be suspended as per section 59 (1) of the Gujarat Panchayat Act 1993. The notice asked the sarpanch to remain present in the DDO’s office on December 19 for a hearing in the matter. However, he did not turn up.

“He is wanted by the police. So he did not turn up for the in-person hearing at the allotted time,” Jadeja said. “He becomes liable to be suspended as sarpanch following the registration of a criminal offence against him. But as per the principle of natural justice and directions of various courts, we have to give a hearing to the sarpanch concerned before taking action. Therefore, we’ll serve him one more showcause notice in the coming days.”

Section 59(1) of the Act empowers a district development officer to suspend a village sarpanch “against whom any criminal proceedings in respect of an offence involving moral turpitude have been instituted.”

“We had provided to the sarpanch a copy of the FIR registered against him as well as the report submitted by the Wankaner taluka development officer and asked the sarpanch to make submissions with relevant documents. But he failed to appear at the appointed time,” Jadeja added.

Dharmendrasinh was elected sarpanch in December 2021. He lives in the Nava Vaghasia locality of the village. According to the FIR, he and the other accused forced users of NH 8A to take metal roads passing through Nava Vaghasia and WHTPL and “extorted” money from them at toll booths set up on metal roads. In the process, they deprived the NHAI’s Vaghasia toll plaza of its toll revenue.

All the five accused have been on the run since the case was registered. Dharmendrasinh and his brother Yuvrajsinh moved the district and sessions court of Morbi last week seeking anticipatory bail. However, the court trashed their applications on Friday.