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Allahabad HC slaps 6-month jail on lawyer for court misconduct
The Allahabad HC sentenced advocate Ashok Pandey to six months in jail for contempt, citing abusive remarks about judges, and imposed a fine of ₹2,000.
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The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday sentenced advocate Ashok Pandey to six months of simple imprisonment in a 2021 criminal contempt case. The court found Pandey guilty of using abusive language and making derogatory remarks, including saying that “the judges are behaving like goondas,” during open court proceedings.
A division bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Brij Raj Singh passed the order, directing Pandey to surrender before the Chief Judicial Magistrate within four weeks. He was also fined ₹2,000. In case of failure to pay the fine within one month, the court said, he would face an additional month of imprisonment.
Along with the jail sentence, the court also served a notice to Pandey asking why he should not be restrained from practising in the Allahabad HC and its Lucknow bench—for a period of three years.
The court directed Pandey to file his reply and appear in person during the next hearing, scheduled for May 1.
The order came in a suo motu criminal contempt case initiated on August 18, 2021, after Pandey’s misconduct during a court hearing.
The court observed that the contempt was not a standalone incident. It listed earlier instances of similar misbehaviour by Pandey, citing a pattern of conduct that undermines the dignity and authority of the court.
“The primary objective of the contempt jurisdiction is not to protect individual judges, but to maintain public confidence in the judicial system,” the court observed. It further stated that a failure to act firmly in such aggravated cases may embolden others to behave similarly.
The court also instructed that a copy of the judgment be sent to the Registrar General and senior registrars of both benches of the HC for compliance.
