New Delhi, Jul 20 The Supreme Court on Monday expressed its displeasure over the Centre's non-compliance with a Madhya Pradesh High Court direction to confer the prestigious President's Gallantry Award on a former police officer, who shot dead two dacoits during an operation more than two decades ago.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and R Mahadevan, hearing an application filed by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, gave the Centre time till July 29 to comply with the high court's order on conferring the award to police officer Vivek Singh Chouhan.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, informed the bench that the government has filed a review petition against the March 25 order of the apex court affirming the direction of the high court.
"We have filed a review. It is an objection in principle and not against the officer. If the court can consider the review, we can work out. He may eventually get it but not under a mandamus," Mehta submitted.
Justice Nath questioned why the government is not complying with the order while pursuing the review.
"Why don't you comply and then argue your review?" the bench asked Mehta, adding that if the review plea is allowed, the award will go.
"Why can't you comply? Why are you making it an issue?" Justice Nath asked Mehta.
The solicitor general submitted that if the review plea succeeds, the award can be withdrawn and the question is more of principle than about any individual.
He clarified that the issue has nothing to do with the officer's rank and requested that the review petition be listed for an oral hearing.
A lawyer appearing in the matter for the former police officer submitted that his client is waiting for justice for 23 years and argued that authorities have already been held guilty of contempt, with only the question of sentence remaining. He urged the court to direct for immediate compliance.
The bench, however, granted the Centre a final opportunity and gave it a week to decide on the matter. "Please convey to the government that the court was not happy," it told the solicitor general.
The court directed that the matter be listed on July 29, while making it clear that "no further time will be granted".
Mehta argued that honours are conferred and not claimed through judicial directions.
"It is not against the man. Honours are conferred, not sought for or directed by way of a mandamus," he said.
Justice Nath responded, saying the court is also conscious as regards where to issue a mandamus and where not and added that there must have been some compelling circumstances for the high court to have issued such a direction.
Justice Mehta said, "You either give a statement, ignore the mandamus and we will confer the award ourselves on August 15."
The bench said the appeal against the high court order has already been dismissed and now, the government should comply with the direction.
Justice Nath indicated that if the government decides by the next date that it would confer the award on the police officer on August 15, the court would consider deciding the review plea thereafter.
The home secretary has approached the top court against the Madhya Pradesh High Court order that held the secretary prima-facie guilty of contempt for failing to comply with its direction to confer the President's Gallantry Medal on the police officer.
The contempt action arose from the Centre's alleged failure to comply with the high court's December 9, 2024, direction asking the government to confer the gallantry award on Chouhan within a month.
Chouhan, who was the station house officer (SHO) of the Ghatigaon police station in Gwalior district in 2003, had led an operation against dacoits after receiving intelligence about their presence in a village.
Two dacoits were killed in the encounter, during which Chouhan himself was also injured.
Following a magisterial inquiry that gave him a clean chit, recommendations were made for his out-of-turn promotion and conferring the President's Police Medal for Gallantry on him.
After years of litigation, the high court in 2018 directed the state to forward his name to the Centre for the award.
The Madhya Pradesh government recommended his name in 2019, but the Ministry of Home Affairs rejected the claim later that year, which led to another round of litigation from high court to the apex court and contempt action by the high court.
During the contempt proceedings, the Centre submitted a compliance report stating that the president had approved the Gallantry Medal (GM) award for Chouhan.
The high court termed the decision "insufficient", saying the Gallantry Medal and the President's Gallantry Medal are distinct honours and observing that the President's Gallantry Medal is a higher distinction, while the Gallantry Medal is awarded to numerous personnel simultaneously.
