MP High Court Orders Non-Bailable Warrant Against Panna Collector For Contempt Of Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court's Jabalpur bench has ordered a non-bailable warrant against a District Collector for ignoring a contempt petition filed against her, holding that her conduct reflected "classic indifference to the judicial process" and the contempt jurisdiction of the court.

Justice Vivek Jain passed the order on September 19, 2026, in a contempt petition filed by Smt. Javin Ara Rizvi against Mrs. Usha Parmar, Collector of District Panna. Notice in the case had been issued against the Collector as far back as December 4, 2025, but over the following months, she neither entered appearance through a lawyer nor filed any compliance report before the court.

Instead of engaging with the proceedings directly, the Collector chose to write a letter to the Registrar of the High Court, dated October 5, 2025. In it, she stated that she had received the notices relating to the contempt petition and had appointed the In-charge Officer of the Establishment Branch of her office as the contact officer to look into the matter. Beyond this communication, nothing further was done to comply with the court's order.

The bench took a serious view of this. It observed that the letter itself showed the Collector was aware of the pendency of the contempt petition, yet chose to respond to a court of law through an administrative missive rather than appropriate legal process. "In the classic indifference to the judicial process and to indifference to the contempt jurisdiction of this Court, she has sent a letter to the Registry of this Court informing that she has received the notices of the contempt petition and has deputed an officer to do the needful, thereafter nothing has been done by the respondent," the court noted.

Going further, the bench held this conduct pointed to a deliberate attempt to stay away from the contempt proceedings altogether. "It appears that the respondent has adopted intent to avoid the contempt proceedings despite having received the notices and has even written a letter to the Registry of this Court which indicates her disinclination and her indifference towards the contempt jurisdiction of this Court," the order recorded.

Faced with this pattern, the court concluded that softer measures would not work. "This Court is satisfied that without issuing non-bailable warrant, it would not be possible to secure the cooperation of the respondent and secure compliance of the order," Justice Jain observed, directing that a non-bailable warrant be issued to ensure the Collector's presence before the court.

The order requires Mrs. Usha Parmar to appear before the Court on September 30, 2026, with the warrant to be executed through the Superintendent of Police, Panna, and the matter listed for further hearing the same day.

Shri Vidya Prasad appeared as counsel for the petitioner, Smt. Javin Ara Rizvi. No counsel had entered appearance on behalf of the respondent Collector at any stage, despite her having received notice of the case well over nine months before the warrant was issued.

The matter is now listed for September 30, 2026.

Case Title: Smt. Javin Ara Rizvi v. Mrs. Usha Parmar

Date of Order: September 19, 2026

Bench: Justice Vivek Jain