Court stays jail order for Suleman

Indore: The Indore bench of MP high court on Wednesday granted interim relief to retired principal secretary Mohammad Suleman, who had been sentenced to two months of simple imprisonment for contempt of court, and stayed the punishment order until further hearing.The division bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi was hearing contempt appeal by former public health and family welfare department PS, challenging an order dated March 16, 2026.The contempt proceedings had been initiated against the appellant for non-compliance with directions issued by the High Court on December 6, 2023, directing regularisation of ward boys in Mandsaur. When the non-compliance persisted even after a further order dated February 6, Justice Pranay Verma held the appellant guilty of contempt and sentenced him to two months of simple imprisonment.Deputy Advocate General SR Saxena, appearing for Suleman, made submitted that that the appellant had never received notice in the contempt proceedings and had no knowledge of the orders requiring his compliance. Also, the original December 6, 2023 order, the very non-compliance of which triggered the contempt proceedings, had since been challenged by the state department.Taking note of these submissions, the court issued notice to the respondent, original writ petitioner Ashok Kumar Padeyar, returnable within four weeks.As an interim measure, the March 16, 2026 punishment order stands stayed till the next date of hearing. The matter is to be listed after four weeks.Suleman had chosen voluntary retirement from services in March 2025.