--- title: "SC orders four-week window to confer gallantry award on former MP police officer" url: https://projectchintan.com/article/sc-orders-four-week-gallantry-award-deadline-1wdd9 publisher: Project Chintan author: Project Chintan Newsroom section: Politics published: 2026-08-21T10:30:33.694Z modified: 2026-08-21T12:30:04.631Z language: en-IN --- # SC orders four-week window to confer gallantry award on former MP police officer The Supreme Court directed the Centre to confer the President’s Gallantry Award on Vivek Singh Chouhan within four weeks, amid a long-standing delay and a contempt petition. The case traces back to a 2003 encounter in Gwalior and a 2024 MP High Court directive. ## Key takeaways - SC set a final four-week deadline for the Centre to confer the President’s Gallantry Award on Vivek Singh Chouhan. - The directive follows a contempt petition and a 2024 MP High Court order that was affirmed by higher courts. - The government argued it was pursuing a review petition, but the Court pressed for compliance with the award directive. ## What Happened The Supreme Court of India directed the Union Government to confer the President’s Gallantry Award on Vivek Singh Chouhan, a former Madhya Pradesh police officer who led an operation against dacoits in 2003. The Court gave the Centre four weeks as a final opportunity to comply with the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s December 9, 2024 order mandating the award. It warned that failure to comply would invite serious consequences and ordered a compliance affidavit within two weeks. The proceedings began from a contempt petition alleging delay in implementing the High Court directive, which was later affirmed by a Division Bench and upheld by the Supreme Court. The government had previously filed a review petition against a March 25 order affirming the High Court’s direction. The officer, then Station House Officer of Ghatigaon police station in Gwalior district in 2003, led an operation against a gang of dacoits after receiving intelligence. Two dacoits were killed in the encounter, and the officer sustained injuries. A magisterial inquiry gave him a clean chit, and recommendations were made for his out-of-turn promotion and for the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry, which the High Court later determined should be the President’s Gallantry Award rather than a lower decoration. The four-week deadline was set during a hearing attended by Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and R. Mahadevan, with the Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan represented by the Solicitor General. The government argued it was pursuing a review petition, but the Bench pressed for compliance with the High Court order regardless of the review. The Court noted this as a matter of addressing delayed justice for a police officer who risked his life in service, and scheduled further proceedings after the four-week window. ## Why It Matters The Court’s intervention underscores judicial insistence on timely recognition for officers who risk their lives in the line of duty and the balance between executive review processes and compliance with court orders. A failure to confer the award within four weeks could lead to further contempt proceedings, highlighting friction between judicial directives and executive actions in ceremonial recognition of gallantry. ## Background In 2003, Vivek Singh Chouhan of the MP Police led an operation against dacoits in a village after intelligence input. Two assailants were killed; Chouhan was injured. A magisterial inquiry cleared him, and recommendations were made for an out-of-turn promotion and a gallantry medal. The Madhya Pradesh High Court later directed that the President’s Gallantry Award be conferred, a directive affirmed by a Division Bench and upheld by the Supreme Court. The Union government had approved a lower decoration—the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry—before the High Court’s direction, which the High Court said overstepped the order. ## Key Facts - Hearing date: July 20, 2026 - Centre given four weeks to confer the President’s Gallantry Award on Vivek Singh Chouhan - Deadline set: July 29, 2026 - Compliance affidavit to be filed within two weeks - Officer was SH0 of Ghatigaon police station, Gwalior district, in 2003 - Two dacoits were killed in the 2003 encounter; officer injured - MP High Court directive: confer the President’s Gallantry Award on Chouhan (Dec 9, 2024) - Supreme Court March 25 order affirmed the High Court’s direction ## What Happens Next The Union Government must file a compliance affidavit within two weeks and implement the High Court order within four weeks. If non-compliance continues, the Home Secretary could face further contempt proceedings, and the matter would remain scheduled for next hearing after the four-week period. --- Canonical: https://projectchintan.com/article/sc-orders-four-week-gallantry-award-deadline-1wdd9 Reported from: Multiple Sources