GUWAHATI: The Allahabad High Court has sentenced Advocate Ashok Pandey to six months of simple imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹2,000 for using abusive language against judges. The court also directed him to surrender before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Lucknow, within four weeks to serve the sentence.
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The order was passed on Thursday, April 10, by a bench comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Brij Raj Singh, which found Pandey guilty of criminal contempt of court. The contempt charge stemmed from an earlier incident in 2021, during which Pandey disrupted proceedings and referred to the presiding judges as “goondas.”
In its ruling, the court noted that the lawyer had not responded to any of the charges or filed an affidavit, despite being given multiple opportunities to do so. The bench further asked Pandey to show cause as to why he should not be barred from practising before the court for three years. This aspect of the matter has been listed for further hearing on May 1.
The incident in question occurred on August 18, 2021, before a different bench of Justices Ritu Raj Awasthi and Dinesh Kumar Singh. On that day, Pandey reportedly appeared in civilian clothes with his shirt unbuttoned. When advised to dress appropriately, he refused, questioned the court’s directive, and disrupted proceedings using abusive language.
The court also referred to a similar incident that took place on August 16, 2021, when Pandey entered the courtroom shouting and demanded to be heard as a member of the Awadh Bar Association. The court said the contemnor was given a chance to apologise before proceedings were initiated but showed no remorse.
The bench concluded that Pandey’s conduct reflected a consistent pattern of disrespect, citing earlier incidents between 2003 and 2017, and an earlier two-year ban from court premises in another contempt case. It has also ruled that failure to pay the recently imposed fine within a month would lead to an additional month of imprisonment.
