Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has taken a stern view of alleged non-compliance with its earlier orders in a dispute over the charge of a college principal, warning of possible contempt proceedings against officials.
The case arises from a writ appeal filed by Dr Ashok Sachdeva against the state and others over the charge of principal at Mata Jijabai Government Girls College, also called Old GDC. During the hearing, a division bench comprising Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi noted that it had earlier directed maintenance of status quo regarding the post of principal on April 7 and reiterated the same in a detailed order dated April 20, 2026.
However, counsel for the appellant informed the bench that despite these directions, an order dated April 22 was issued by the commissioner of higher education assigning the charge of incharge principal to Dr Manju Sharma. The appellant argued that this action was taken without seeking permission from the court or filing any application for modification of the status quo order, amounting to contempt.
The court also observed that the officer who issued the April 22 order was not the regular commissioner but was holding the post in a temporary capacity. Taking serious note, the bench directed the state counsel to seek instructions from the commissioner and submit an explanation as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated.
The court has ordered the Indore division additional director of higher education to remain personally present on the next date of hearing to explain the lapse. In an interim relief to the appellant, the court directed that Sachdeva shall be allowed to continue as the incharge principal of the college until further orders.
The matter has been listed for the next hearing on May 11.
