MP HC Orders Disciplinary Action Against Official For Appearing Before It On VC From Bed In Underpants

The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur has held a senior town planning official guilty of contempt after he appeared before it through video conferencing from his bed, in his underpants and buttoning his shirt, directing him to explain why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.

Justice Deepak Khot passed the order on October 27 in a contempt petition titled M/s G.S.B. Construction vs Shri Amit Kumar Gajbhiye. The respondent is Joint Director, Town and Country Planning, Bhopal.

The matter was listed because the Court, by an earlier order dated October 9, 2026, had directed the respondent to submit a compliance report, failing which his personal presence would be required. Gajbhiye was present through video conferencing during the morning session.

The Court recorded that he appeared “from his bed closing his buttons of the shirt and in underpant”.

“This conduct of the respondent-Contemnor is not according to the court decorum and contemptuous, therefore, this Court is compelled to observe that the respondent-Contemnor is guilty of misconduct and has committed the contempt of this Court,” the order states.

The Court thus recorded a finding of contempt against the officer on the day he appeared before it, then and there.

Appearing for the State, Deputy Advocate General Swapnil Ganguly, assisted by Advocate Akash Malpani, told the Court that he would take up the matter with the higher official for suitable disciplinary action against the officer.

Taking note of this assurance, the Court directed that “proper disciplinary action be initiated against the respondent-contemnor” and that a report be filed before it within four weeks.

The Court went a step further. It directed the officer to show cause why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him “for the unbecoming conduct shown by him during the course of the proceedings”. His reply must also be filed within four weeks.

The order underlines that an officer summoned by a court cannot treat a virtual appearance as a lesser obligation than physically standing in the courtroom.

The contempt petition itself arises from a land use dispute. Advocates Saket Upadhyay and Dinesh Kumar Upadhyay appeared for the petitioner, M/s G.S.B. Construction.

Going through the compliance report, the Court found that the authority had decided the petitioner’s representation on the footing that the petitioner had sought a change of land use. Counsel for the petitioner, however, drew the Court’s attention to a letter dated October 3, 2025, filed along with the petition.

According to the Court, that letter showed that a recommendation to correct the map and the nature of the land had already been sent. The land had been wrongly recorded as industrial land by the respondent authority, though it was in fact designated as a residential area under the Master Plan.

The recommendation, the Court noted, had been forwarded on October 3, 2025 by the Joint Director, Town and Country Planning, Jabalpur, to the Joint Director (IT), Directorate of Town and Country Planning, Bhopal.

In that light, the Court was unsparing about the authority’s handling of the representation. “Therefore, the order passed on the petitioner’s representation is merely an eyewash,” it observed.

Counsel for the respondent submitted that if the petitioner filed an application through the ALPASS Portal, the authority would decide it as soon as possible.

Accepting the submission, the Court directed the petitioner to apply for rectification of the land use through the portal. The respondent was directed to facilitate the uploading and acceptance of the application within seven days from the date of the order.

The authority has further been directed to decide the application within four weeks from the date of its uploading. The Court has thus fixed a clear timeline for correcting the records.

The matter will next be heard on November 30, 2026.

Case Title: M/s G.S.B. Construction vs Shri Amit Kumar Gajbhiye

Order Date: October 27, 2026

Bench: Justice Deepak Khot