Indore High Court Upholds ₹25,000 Late Fee For Delayed ADPO Applications

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld a ₹25,000 late fee imposed by the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) for delayed applications in the assistant district public prosecution officer (ADPO) recruitment process. The decision was handed down on September 22 by Justice Pavan Kumar Dwivedi, who dismissed Mohammad Rizwan's petition challenging the fee.

The MPPSC advertisement, dated March 10, set the application deadline for May 8. Late applications, from May 9 to 15, incurred a fee of Rs 3,000, while those submitted between May 16 and September 23 were subject to the higher ₹25,000 fee. Rizwan argued that the fee was exorbitant, but the court found that he had only cited "unavoidable personal reasons and circumstances beyond his control" without offering a concrete explanation for the delay.

The court accepted the MPPSC's assertion that progressively escalating late fees were intended to discourage late submissions and rejected both Rizwan's petition and an intervention application from a third party. The High Court also noted that an intervenor can only support or oppose the petitioner's request for relief and cannot seek relief on their own behalf.