'Listed 22 Times, Yet No Compliance': MP High Court Orders Imprisonment Of Govt Officials For Contempt In Service Matter

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has sentenced the Medical and Health Department officials for failing to comply with its orders, observing that the matter had been listed as many as 22 times without compliance with the previous court order. The bench of Justice Pranay Verma observed; "The petition has been listed for the 22 nd time, and still the order has not been complied with. As per the peremptory order dated 06.02.2026, the respondents are held liable and guilty of committing contempt of the order passed by this Court. After hearing the learned counsel for the respondents on the question of sentence, the respondents are sentenced to simple imprisonment for a period of two months. This order shall, however, be kept in abeyance for a period of three weeks". The original case arose from the petitioner's grievance against an order of 2022 passed by the Chief Medical and Health Officer of Mandsaur (respondent no 4). The petitioner had sought regularisation of his service after completing 10 years from the date of his initial appointment. While his claim was partly allowed, the regularisation was granted only from April 7, 2016, instead of from 2004 as requested. Subsequently, the High Court, through an order dated December 7, 2023, directed the respondents to extend regularisation benefits from 2004 along with consequential benefits, within three months. However, despite the passage of more than two years, the order remained unimplemented, and thus the petitioner filed a contempt petition against the four respondents, including Mohammad Suleman, Principal Secretary of Public Health And Family Welfare Department, Tarun Rathi, Commissioner of Health Services, Dr DK Tiwari, Joint Diretor of Health Services and Dr Govind Chouhan, Chief Medical and Health Officer. It was noted that the court had repeatedly granted the respondents opportunities to comply with the court order. The bench observed in its order of February 6, 2026, that the respondents were deliberately and wilfully refusing to comply with the directions and were attempting to gain time without any real intention to comply. The bench observed, "On 06.02.2026 by taking into consideration the entire proceedings of the petition, this Court prima facie found the respondents to have committed breach of the order and contempt of the lawful authority of this Court. It was held that they had deliberately disobeyed the order passed by this Court. However, before proceeding to take any punitive action against the respondents, they were granted one more opportunity to comply with the order". The respondents thereafter produced a compliance report stating that the order of regularisation had been passed on March 12, 2026. The court, however, noted that even then, only an order of regularisation was passed, but no consequential benefits were extended. The court further rejected the respondent's plea seeking time to comply, the court held the respondent guilty of contempt and imposed a sentence of simple imprisonment for two months. Thus, the petition was disposed of. Case Title: Ashok Kumar Padeyar v Shri Mohammad Suleman [CONC-1582-2024]Click here to read/download the Order

'Listed 22 Times, Yet No Compliance': MP High Court Orders Imprisonment Of Govt Officials For Contempt In Service Matter

Jayanti Pahwa

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