MP High Court pulls up State official for appearing from bed in underpants during virtual hearing

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday pulled up a senior town planning official for appearing before it through video conference while sitting on his bed in his underpants and buttoning his shirt [GSB Construction v Amit Kumar Gahbhiya].

Justice Deepak Khot observed that such conduct by Amit Kumar Gajbhiye, a Joint Director of Town and Country Planning at Bhopal, violated court decorum and amounted to criminal contempt of court.

Describing the official's conduct during the hearing, the Court said,

"The respondent (Gajbhiye) appeared in the morning session through Video Conferencing 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 Court has directed the State government to initiate disciplinary action against the officer. It further sought his explanation on why criminal contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.

The State's Deputy Advocate General, Swapnil Ganguly, assured the Court that he would take up the issue with senior officials to ensure appropriate disciplinary action against Gajbhiye. The Court has directed the State to initiate the action and file a report within four weeks.

The Court was hearing a plea filed by GSB Construction accusing the local authorities of failing to comply with directions concerning the correction of land-use records.

The Court had, on October 9, directed Gajbhiye to submit a compliance report, failing which he was required to appear before it. It was during a hearing of this matter that the Court found Gajbhiye appearing through video-conference without being properly dressed.

Apart from the officer's conduct, the Court also took issue with the manner in which the authorities had dealt with the construction firm's request to correct the classification of its land.

The Court noted that the land had been recorded as industrial land despite being designated as a residential area under the Master Plan. The firm contended that a recommendation to correct the map and the nature of the land had already been forwarded on October 3, 2025 by the Joint Director of Town and Country Planning at Jabalpur to the Joint Director (IT) of the Directorate of Town and Country Planning at Bhopal.

However, the authority treated it as a request for a change in land use, rather than a correction of the existing records. Taking note of this discrepancy, the Court criticised the authority's handling of the matter.

"The order passed on the petitioner's representation is merely an eyewash," said the Court.

On this land-use issue, the Court has directed GSB Construction to submit an application for rectification through the Automated Layout Process Approval and Scrutiny System (ALPASS) Portal.

Gajbhiye was directed to facilitate the uploading and acceptance of the application within seven days. The Court directed the authority to decide it within four weeks of its upload.

The matter will be next heard on November 30.

Advocates Saket Upadhyay and Dinesh Kumar Upadhyay appeared for GSB Construction.

Deputy Advocate General Swapnil Ganguly and advocate Akash Malpani appeared on behalf of the State.

[Read Order]