Centre Approves President’s Gallantry Medal for Former Cop, Tells Supreme Court

New Delhi, Aug. 21: The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that President’s approval has been granted to confer the President’s Medal for Gallantry on former police officer Vivek Singh Chouhan for his role in an encounter with dacoits in 2003.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta that the President had approved the award following examination of the proposal by the Ministry of Home Affairs under the applicable guidelines.

The court took note of a communication issued by the ministry on August 20, 2026, stating that the honour would be formally notified in the Gazette of India in due course.

The development comes after the Supreme Court expressed displeasure in July over the Centre’s alleged failure to comply with an earlier direction of the Madhya Pradesh High Court regarding the award.

The bench said that, in view of the latest decision, the application filed by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan did not require further consideration.

Counsel representing Chouhan also informed the court that the contempt proceedings pending before the high court would be withdrawn.

The legal dispute dates back several years. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had directed the authorities in December 2024 to confer the gallantry honour on Chouhan within a month. The order followed prolonged litigation over the recognition of his actions during a police operation in 2003.

At the time, Chouhan was serving as station house officer at Ghatigaon police station in Gwalior district. Acting on intelligence about the presence of dacoits in a village, he led an operation in which two dacoits were killed. Chouhan was also injured during the encounter.

A subsequent magisterial inquiry cleared him of wrongdoing, after which recommendations were made for his out-of-turn promotion and the gallantry award.

The state government eventually forwarded his name to the Centre in 2019. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs rejected the proposal later that year, triggering further legal proceedings.

During subsequent contempt proceedings, the Centre had earlier submitted that the President had approved a gallantry medal for Chouhan. The high court, however, found that response inadequate, observing that the specific President’s Medal for Gallantry sought by the officer was distinct from the honour referred to in the Centre’s submission.

With the latest presidential approval, the long-running dispute over the award has moved closer to resolution.