The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Indore has imposed exemplary costs of Rs 1,00,000 on an Indore Municipal Corporation officer who passed an order relying on provisions of the Municipal Corporation Act that had been omitted in 2020, calling it a case of "utter ignorance" and "non-application of mind", LawBeat reported on Thursday, October 29.
Source: LawBeat
Justice Sandeep N. Bhatt passed the order on October 28, 2026, while hearing a writ petition filed by M/s Bafgna Hospital and Orthopedics Research Centre Pvt Ltd against the Indore Municipal Corporation and others. The petition challenged a Corporation order dated September 30, 2026, and a subsequent ledger report dated October 7, 2026.
During the hearing, the Corporation's senior counsel, on instructions from the concerned officer, told the court that the authority was withdrawing the impugned order, as it was "apparently bad in law and can be considered as non-est". The court accepted that statement and held that the order and the ledger report would be treated as non-est and withdrawn, LiveLaw reported.
Source: LiveLaw
That did not end the matter for the officer. The court pointed out that Sections 143, 146 and 153 of the Act, which "stood omitted in the year 2020", were relied upon while passing the order. This, it said, showed "utter ignorance of the responsible officer who is duty bound to adjudicate the grievance of the concerned person strictly in accordance with law". The situation was "clearly disappointing and painful", the court added, and "not required to be repeated in future".
The court said it was "reluctant to take a lenient view in the matter" and held that the order was passed "in mechanical manner, without applying mind in proper manner", which could be considered an exercise of jurisdiction by misusing the power vested in the officer. It noted that such orders force petitioners to approach the High Court, waste the court's precious judicial time, and are defended in litigation filed at the cost of public money.
Imposing costs "with a view to set an example", the court directed the Corporation to deposit Rs 75,000 in favour of the M.P. State Legal Services Authority, Indore, and Rs 25,000 in favour of the petitioner towards the cost of litigation, within seven days.
To protect the public exchequer, the court directed the highest officer of the Corporation to ensure that the amount is recovered from the erring officer, so that the "burden of the cost" is not borne by the Municipal Corporation. The recovery must be done within 15 days from payment of the costs. With those directions, the petition was disposed of.
Advocates Vibhor Khandelwal and Jayesh Gurnani appeared for the petitioner, while Senior Advocate Manoj Munshi, with Advocates Shashank Shrivastava and Vikram Malviya, appeared for the Corporation. Manohar Vishwakarma, ARO (Law) of the Corporation, was present pursuant to the court's October 26 order, LawBeat reported.