Daijiworld Media Network - Bhopal

Bhopal, Feb 1: The Madhya Pradesh government on Saturday suspended the district treasury officer of Guna in connection with alleged irregularities in the sale of stamps that reportedly caused a loss of Rs 2.70 crore to the state exchequer, officials said.

The action follows the registration of a First Information Report earlier this week against a cashier for allegedly issuing revenue, judicial, notarial and special adhesive stamps without recording the transactions.

According to officials, an inspection of the Guna treasury conducted on December 17 and 18 by the joint director, treasury and accounts, Gwalior, revealed a mismatch between the stock recorded on the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) portal and the actual stock available.

Subsequently, district treasury officer Rakesh Kumar wrote to the Cantonment police station on January 21, seeking registration of an FIR. Acting on the complaint, police registered a case against Keshav Verma, assistant grade-III cashier, on Wednesday under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Verma allegedly removed stamps worth Rs 3.74 crore but recorded entries for only Rs 1.04 crore, officials said. However, the finance department also held treasury officer Kumar responsible for negligence and ordered his suspension.

The department stated that the IFMIS system mandates online approval using the treasury officer’s login for the transfer of stamps, but Kumar allegedly ignored the procedure and allowed stamps to be removed without system entries.

It was further noted that mandatory registers and acknowledgements were not maintained as required under the Madhya Pradesh Treasury Code, 2020, and stamps were issued to vendors without written applications or receipts.

Guna collector Kishore Kumar Kanyal said records related to stamps had not been properly maintained in the treasury since 2017-18. Further investigation is underway.