A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a case related to contempt proceedings initiated by Chouhan in the High Court against Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan for non-compliance with a High Court direction to confer the gallantry award on him.

After the Court earlier expressed displeasure over the delay in complying with the High Court order, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta today informed the Court that the President had taken a decision on the matter.

“We are grateful for your lordships' indulgence and now the decision is taken. The President has passed the order,” Mehta said.

He read out the relevant portion of the communication, stating that the proposal had been examined in compliance with the High Court's order and as per the applicable guidelines.

He said the President had approved the Medal for Gallantry to Sri Vivek Kumar Chauhan, SI for the action dated June 24, 2003. The award will be notified in the Gazette of India by the President's Secretary shortly, he added.

Mehta also argued that the High Court's order should not be treated as a precedent, saying that such awards are ultimately decided by the President.

The Court noted that it was only dealing with the contempt proceedings, and this observation was not required in the order.

Senior Advocate Mrigendra Singh, appearing for Chouhan, said that Chouhan would withdraw the contempt petition in the High Court in light of this development.

In the order, the Court recorded that Mehta had placed before it a communication dated August 20, 2026, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, whereby approval had been granted to confer the Medal of Gallantry on Chouhan, and the award would be notified in the Gazette of India in due course.

“In that view of the matter the present petition does not require any further consideration,” the Court opined.

The Court also recorded that Singh's statement that Chouhan would withdraw the contempt proceedings pending before the High Court.

Background

The dispute arose from Chouhan's long-pending claim for the President's Gallantry Medal. He was serving as SHO of Ghatigaon police station in Gwalior district in 2003 when he led an operation against dacoits. Two dacoits were killed and Chouhan sustained injuries.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court had directed in December 2024 that the gallantry award be conferred on Chouhan within one month. The order was subsequently upheld by a Division Bench.

The Centre had later submitted that the President had approved a Gallantry Medal for Chouhan. The High Court rejected this as inadequate, holding that the Gallantry Medal and President's Gallantry Medal were distinct honours and that the latter was a higher distinction. The High Court found that the Union had "clearly over reached the order", amounting to prima facie willful disobedience.

The Centre challenged the High Court order before the Supreme Court.

Case no. – MA 2056/2026 in SLP(C) No. 10821/2026, Diary No. 40866/2026

Case Title – Govind Mohan v. Vivek Singh Chouhan