A Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court courted controversy after it compared the relationship between the High Court and the District Court to that of a ‘Savarna’ and ‘Shudra.’
The Bench invoked the ‘caste system’ to claim that judges in the lower Judiciary were treated like ‘Shudras’ while Judges in the High Court function with the entitlement of ‘Savarnas.’
The controversial observations were made by Justices Atul Sreedharan and Dinesh Kumar Paliwal on 14th July.
The Judges were hearing the case of a former Sessions Judge named Jagat Mohan Chaturvedi, who was dismissed from service in September 2015 for granting bail to some accused in the Vyapam scam.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court quashed the termination and noted that he suffered ‘gross injustice.’
Madhya Pradesh High Court recently drew a stark comparison, likening the relationship between High Court judges and the district judiciary to that of a feudal lord and a serf in Jagat Mohan Chaturvedi v. The State of Madhya Pradesh and Others.
— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) July 24, 2025
“The subjugation and enslavement of…
It directed the restoration of his pension benefits, reinstatement of his service and back wages with interest, a compensation of ₹5 lakh for hardships and humiliation caused to former Judge Jagat Mohan Chaturvedi.
The said Judge served the lower Judiciary for 28 years with an ‘unblemished record’. He was reportedly removed despite no evidence of dishonesty, corruption or malicious intent.
During the hearing of the case, the Bench claimed, “At a subliminal level, the penumbra of the caste system manifests in the judicial structure in this state where those in the High Court are the savarnas and the shudras are the les misérables of the District Judiciary.”
It described the judicial hierarchy as based on fear, submission and psychological subjugation.
Justices Atul Sreedharan and Dinesh Kumar Paliwal further stated that the relationship between the Higher Judiciary and District Judiciary judges is similar to that of a ‘feudal lord’ and ‘serf’.
While comparing the relationship to ‘caste system’, the Madhya Pradesh High Court stated, “(Judges of the district judiciary) are almost never offered a seat by the Judges of the High Court, and on a rare occasion when they are, they are hesitant to sit down before the High Court Judge.”
It concluded, “An overbearing High Court, ever willing to excoriate the District Judiciary for the most innocuous of its errors, ensures that District Judiciary is kept under perpetual and morbid fear of punishment.” The fear, he said, is not irrational trial court judges have families, children, sick parents, and financial responsibilities, and an abrupt termination for passing a single judicial order can leave them and their dependents on the streets, without pension and facing a society that questions their integrity.“
