IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH AT JABALPUR BEFORE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE VIVEK RUSIA &

HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE PRADEEP MITTAL

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ON THE 6 OF MAY, 2026 WRIT APPEAL No. 1077 of 2026 NISHA PANDEY Versus THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS Appearance:

Shri Manoj Kumar Sharma - Senior Advocate with Shri Aditya Khandekar - Advocate for appellant.

Shri Samdarshi Tiwari - Senior`1 Advocate with Shri Palash Upadhyay - Advocate for Caveator.

Shri Dr. S. S. Chauhan - Government Advocate for respondent/State.

ORDER Per: Justice Pradeep Mittal This writ appeal challenges the judgment dated 16.03.2026 passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P. No. 2861/2026, whereby the petition filed by the appellant Smt. Nisha Pandey, Senior Lecturer (Civil Engineering), Government Polytechnic College, Rewa was dismissed, leaving undisturbed the order dated 19.01.2026 issued by the Deputy Secretary, Department of Technical Education, Skill Development and Employment, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, by which the administrative charge of in-charge Principal of the said college was transferred from the appellant to Dr.

Rishikesh Tripathi (Respondent No. 4), a Lecturer in Mathematics.

2. The relevant background facts, as emerging from the record, may be noticed briefly. The appellant was appointed as Lecturer (Civil Engineering) on 09.07.2009. She was deputed to Government Polytechnic College, Rewa on 28.05.2011 and was absorbed therein on 27.04.2018. Respondent No. 4, Dr. Rishikesh Tripathi, was appointed as Lecturer (Mathematics) on 07.09.2009 and was absorbed at Rewa only on 01.01.2025 nearly seven years after the appellant's absorption. By order dated 06.07.2023 issued by the Directorate of Technical Education, the administrative charge of in-charge Principal was handed over to the appellant as the senior-most teacher, upon the previous in-charge being transferred.

3. A precise chronological reading of the events on record is essential to appreciating the challenge made in this appeal. The sequence is as follows: On 25.06.2025, the appellant, in the discharge of her duties as in- charge Principal, took disciplinary action against M/s MP Security and Allied Services (Shri Santosh Pandey, proprietor) an outsourced cleaning agency for financial irregularities and misconduct, and cancelled its contract. On 30.07.2025, a complaint letter was received by the Directorate of Technical Education from the Assistant Inspector General, Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Headquarters, Bhopal, bearing Complaint Inward No. 01887/2025(1); it is pertinent that this complaint surfaced after, and not before, the cancellation of the contractor's contract. On 06.08.2025, the Joint Commissioner directed the Collector, Rewa to examine a complaint filed by Shri Santosh Pandey the very same private contractor whose contract had been cancelled by the appellant. On 25.08.2025, the Directorate of Technical Education, by letter No. S-10/B/E.F. No. 734232/2025/403, appointed Dr. A.K. Dohare, Professor (Electronics Engg.), Rewa Engineering College, and Prof. G.R. Kumre, Professor (Electronics Engg.), Rewa Engineering College, as Inquiry Officers to investigate the EOW complaint an order approved by the Additional Director, Directorate of Technical Education (M.P.), acting under the authority of the Commissioner, being a departmentally competent authority. On 15.10.2025, the Additional Collector, Rewa constituted a three- member committee comprising the SDM (Huzur), the Tehsildar (Huzur), and an Assistant Accounts Officer to enquire into a complaint filed by Respondent No. 4; the legal competence of the Collector to constitute such a committee is a matter of serious challenge, addressed hereinafter. On 29.11.2025, the said three-member committee submitted its report; the competence of this committee and the legal validity of its report are equally disputed and fall for examination below. On 19.01.2026, the impugned order was passed by the Deputy Secretary, Department of Technical Education, t