Twenty Years. Sixteen Buses. ₹9 Crore Stolen from MP's Exchequer — And Someone Destroyed the Files
There is ordinary tax evasion, and then there is this: two bus operators in Jabalpur who allegedly stopped paying vehicle taxes all the way back in 2006, told the transport office their buses had been scrapped — and then quietly kept running those same buses for two more decades across five districts of Madhya Pradesh. When the government finally tried to recover the dues in 2017, a transport department clerk allegedly made the case files vanish.
On February 27, 2026, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Madhya Pradesh had seen enough. It registered a formal FIR — and what it reveals is a textbook case of how public money disappears when operators, officials, and missing paperwork work in concert.
The Core of the Case: Buses That Were 'Scrapped' But Never Stopped Running
The investigation began after a formal complaint was received from Bhopal, alleging that passenger buses with substantial unpaid tax dues were still being granted permits and fitness certificates. Amar Ujala
Following verification, the truth was hard to ignore. Investigators discovered that 16 buses registered under Sanjay Keshwani and Sadhna Keshwani were actively operating across multiple districts — including Dindori, Jabalpur, Shahdol, Mandla, and Balaghat — on key regional routes including Dindori–Jabalpur, Dindori–Bamhani, Bichhiya–Dindori, and Amarkantak–Malajkhand. Officials say tax liabilities on several of these vehicles remained unpaid for nearly two decades. Amar Ujala
The operators' defence — that the buses had been sold as scrap — collapsed under scrutiny. The buses were not only operational; they were apparently thriving on some of central India's busiest rural routes.
The ₹9 Crore Question: How Files Disappeared at a Critical Moment
The financial fraud alone would have been damaging enough. But what makes this case particularly serious is what allegedly happened when the state tried to fix it.
In 2017, the District Transport Office in Dindori reportedly initiated recovery proceedings for unpaid taxes. During this process, clerk Pushp Kumar Pradhan — then posted at the Dindori District Transport Office and currently serving in Narsinghpur — allegedly caused critical tax files to go missing. Amar Ujala
The consequences of those missing files were immediate and lasting: recovery proceedings stalled, tax arrears remained uncollected, and the government reportedly incurred a total loss of ₹9 crore. EOW officials suspect deliberate tampering and destruction of documents. Amar Ujala
In other words, the evasion did not succeed by accident. It allegedly succeeded because someone inside the system made sure the paper trail went cold at exactly the right moment.
What the FIR Says: Criminal Conspiracy Alleged
The FIR has been registered under Sections 318(4), 61(2), and 238(C) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant anti-corruption provisions. Amar Ujala
The EOW is not treating this as a routine tax default. Authorities allege a criminal conspiracy between the bus operators and certain transport department officials. The probe suggests some buses may have been dismantled without proper authorisation, official records related to tax dues were not safeguarded, and there was abuse of official position to confer undue benefit on the accused. Amar Ujala
Three individuals are formally named in the FIR: bus operators Sanjay Keshwani and Sadhna Keshwani, and transport department clerk Pushp Kumar Pradhan.
Why This Case Is Bigger Than Jabalpur
At first glance, a ₹9 crore bus tax case in a Tier-2 city might seem like a local administrative story. It is not. It is a window into a systemic failure that plays out across India's transport departments every day — and the Jabalpur case illustrates exactly how it works.
Bus operators declare their vehicles scrapped to escape tax liability. Officials either look the other way or, as allegedly happened here, actively help by destroying recovery paperwork. The buses keep running, fares keep being collected, and the state treasury loses crore after crore with no one ever being held accountable — until now.
With growing emphasis on transparency and accountability in public offices, experts suggest that digitisation of transport tax records could prevent file tampering, automated alerts for unpaid taxes may reduce revenue leakages, and periodic third-party audits can strengthen accountability. Amar Ujala
The Jabalpur EOW action is a step in the right direction. But it took a formal complaint from Bhopal, a detailed preliminary inquiry, and nearly two decades of accumulated fraud before that step was taken. That delay is the real story — and it deserves as much scrutiny as the FIR itself.
What Happens Next
EOW officials confirmed that further disclosures are expected as the investigation progresses. Financial audits and scrutiny of transport office procedures are also likely. Amar Ujala
The case is expected to expand. With 16 buses across five districts and nearly 20 years of alleged tax evasion on record, investigators will be examining whether other officials beyond Pushp Kumar Pradhan were involved in suppressing the recovery proceedings — and whether similar patterns exist in other transport offices across MP.
The court will hear the case for the first time during the hearing scheduled on March 17, 2026 — a date that could determine the pace of the judicial process going forward.
The Bottom Line
Two bus operators allegedly told the government their fleet was scrap. It wasn't. A clerk allegedly destroyed the paperwork that would have exposed them. The government lost ₹9 crore. This went on for almost twenty years.
The EOW has now done what should have been done far sooner. The critical question for Madhya Pradesh's transport administration is not just whether these three accused are convicted — it is whether this case triggers the systemic reforms that prevent the next ₹9 crore from quietly disappearing into missing files and false declarations.
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