Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court’s principal seat in Jodhpur Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to Santosh Bansal, former Hanumangarh Municipal Council chairperson and wife of MLA Ganesh Raj Bansal, in a case involving allegations of missing municipal records and embezzlement.A single-judge bench of Justice Sanjeet Purohit observed that Bansal’s contention that the FIR was lodged to harass her and was politically motivated had prima facie merit, citing multiple FIRs registered within a short period and a substantial delay in reporting the alleged offences.The court admitted her petition for consideration and directed that it be listed after four weeks. In the meantime, it ordered that she not be arrested in connection with the FIR registered at Hanumangarh Town police station.The FIR invokes Sections 381, 409, 193 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 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.Appearing for Bansal, advocate Kunal Upadhyay argued that the case was malicious and politically motivated. He submitted that two earlier cases concerning alleged incidents dating back to 2003 had been quashed by a coordinate bench of the high court on Sept 29, with the court finding the proceedings an abuse of legal process intended to harass her.Upadhyay argued that the present FIR, registered in 2026, concerned alleged incidents dating back to 2006 and 2013. He contended that the allegations were general in nature and did not establish Bansal’s individual role in the alleged offences.The lawyer further submitted that allegations of misappropriation and disappearance of govt files were directed at co-accused Malchand and Gangaram, who had also secured interim protection from arrest from a coordinate bench.After hearing the submissions, the court granted Bansal interim protection from arrest while keeping the matter pending for further consideration.
