In a dramatic culmination of years of defiance, the Allahabad High Court has handed lawyer Asok Pandey a six-month jail sentence for criminal contempt after he hurled abuse at sitting judges — even going so far as to label them “goondas” during open court proceedings.
The sentence comes with a ₹2,000 fine and a ticking clock: if unpaid within a month, he’ll serve an extra month behind bars. The Court also issued a show-cause notice asking why Pandey should not be banned from practicing before the High Court for three years — a decision that will be taken up again on May 1.
The fireworks that triggered this ruling unfolded in 2021. Pandey, appearing before a Bench on August 18, strolled into the courtroom in civilian clothes with his shirt undone. When told to dress appropriately, he reportedly challenged the judges, asking them to define “decent dress,” before launching into a tirade, accusing them of acting like street thugs. Witnesses, including advocates, were left stunned.
But that wasn’t his only courtroom performance that week. Just two days earlier, on August 16, he reportedly barged into another hearing similarly underdressed, shouting to be heard as a member of the Awadh Bar Association. No apology followed then — or since.
A different Bench, led by Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Brij Raj Singh, noted that Pandey’s behavior wasn’t a one-off. In fact, they traced a pattern of misconduct stretching back to 2003. Despite multiple contempt cases and even a previous two-year ban from entering the High Court premises, the advocate appeared unchanged — showing, in the Court’s words, “no remorse,” “no reform,” and “no response.”
“There is no affidavit, no explanation, no defense,” the order read. “This isn’t ignorance. It’s defiance, plain and simple.”
The judgment painted a grim picture of a man at odds with the very system he is supposed to serve — a habitual disruptor who has, in the Court’s view, treated the judicial process with contempt and scorn. The ruling now awaits his surrender before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Lucknow within four weeks.
Whether he’ll return to argue another day — or find himself permanently sidelined — now depends on what he says (or doesn’t) at the next hearing.
