SC Sets Aside Allahabad HC Order Dismissing Contempt Plea by KGMU Professor

The Supreme Court recently set aside an Allahabad High Court order that had dismissed a contempt plea filed by a Lucknow-based professor who was terminated from service despite a stay order protecting him. Court found that the professor’s dismissal violated an existing interim order of the high court and directed the matter to be reconsidered afresh.

he case involved Professor Ashish Wakhlu of the Department of Pediatric Surgery at King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow, who had approached the high court after being removed from service while a stay against such action was in force. His contempt petition challenging the violation of that stay was dismissed by the high court on September 23, 2024.

A bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran held that since an interim order passed on December 20, 2018, remained operative and was periodically extended, the authorities could not have treated the release of the matter on February 6, 2019, as a valid reason to act in disregard of that order.

“On this short ground, the appeal deserves to be allowed,” the bench said, remitting the matter to the high court for fresh consideration of the contempt petition. The top court also directed that other connected cases, if any, may be heard together for effective adjudication.

Dr. Wakhlu was appointed in 2010 as the Nodal Officer for implementing the Central Patient Management System (CPMS) at KGMU. In 2017, an audit report pointed to irregularities in expenditure, following which a disciplinary committee was formed.

Challenging the preliminary enquiry report, he filed his first writ petition before the Allahabad High Court. The case was heard and reserved for judgment on November 16, 2018. However, while the case was still pending, the disciplinary committee continued its proceedings and sent him a questionnaire. Aggrieved by this, he filed a second writ petition.

On December 20, 2018, the single judge allowed the authorities to continue with the disciplinary proceedings but clearly directed that no final order should be passed until the earlier writ petition was decided. Despite this, the first case was released from the single judge’s board on February 6, 2019, without judgment.

Meanwhile, the disciplinary committee submitted a chargesheet to the Executive Council, which approved it. Dr. Wakhlu challenged this by filing a third writ petition. In October 2019, he was suspended, leading him to file a fourth writ petition, in which the suspension order was stayed.

The university later moved a division bench, which ordered that all four writ petitions be heard together and that the earlier interim protection would continue.

While these petitions were pending, the university found Dr. Wakhlu guilty of the charges and terminated his services on June 10, 2020. He then filed a contempt petition before the high court, arguing that his dismissal violated the December 2018 stay order.

However, the high court dismissed the contempt plea, noting that several other related proceedings were pending. Challenging this dismissal, Dr. Wakhlu approached the Supreme Court.

The apex court found merit in his plea and held that once the interim order of December 20, 2018, was in effect, it could not have been ignored. The Supreme Court therefore quashed the high court’s order and directed it to reconsider the contempt petition afresh.

Case Title: Prof. Ashish Wakhlu vs Prof. Soniya Nityanand & Other

Judgment Date: October 27, 2025

Bench: Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran