A court has sentenced a former school headmistress to two years of rigorous imprisonment for misappropriation of government grants.
Chief Judicial Magistrate RM Kulkarni sentenced Omlata Shukla (62) to two years of rigorous imprisonment last week and slapped a fine of Rs. 5,000 after she was found guilty of misappropriation of grants of Rs. 1.84 lakh.
Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) AB Dhamal told the court that Shukla was the headmistress and supervisor of a private school, Saint Ulai Vidyalaya.
The prosecution alleged that the accused had received a grant of Rs. 1.84 lakh in 2001-02 from the Deputy Director of Education, Nashik for payment of salaries to the teachers.
But, she misappropriated the fund and siphoned it off for her own benefit.
Thane Municipal Corporation’s (TMC) education department had subsequently received a complaint and a criminal case was lodged with the police in this regard.
The judge observed that considering various aspects as well as facts, the accused had committed an offence not only against individuals but the state as well in respect of salary grant. Hence, it was necessary to take a serious view while awarding the punishment.
