Madhya Pradesh High Court imposes a lakh rupees in costs on a municipal officer who used omitted sections

29 October 2026

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has imposed costs of Rs 1,00,000 on an officer of the Indore Municipal Corporation for passing an order under provisions that no longer exist.
The case is Bafgna Hospital v. Indore Municipal Corporation, reported as 2026 LiveLaw (MP) 436.
Sections 143, 146 and 153 of the Municipal Corporation Act had been omitted in 2020, but the officer relied on them while issuing an order and a ledger report.
Of the costs, Rs 75,000 is to be deposited with the Madhya Pradesh State Legal Services Authority and Rs 25,000 paid to the petitioner as litigation costs.
The Corporation agreed to withdraw both the order and the ledger report.
The Court said the withdrawal did not excuse the error, which it described as utter ignorance of the law and a waste of judicial time.
It said the costs were being imposed as an example to statutory authorities, because such litigation is funded by public money.