The Allahabad High Court banned Asok Pande from practicing and entering court premises for three years. His repeated contempt actions, including using foul language like calling judges ‘Goondas’ and improper dress in court, led to this strict decision.
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UTTAR PRADESH: The Allahabad High Court has stopped advocate Asok Pande from practicing law or entering the High Court premises at Allahabad and Lucknow for three years.
The order was passed by a Bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Brij Raj Singh.
Earlier in April, Pande was punished with six months of simple jail and a fine of Rs 2000 for showing disrespect to the court and using bad language against judges during court proceedings in 2021.
“The contemnor is restrained from practicing and appearing before this Court at Allahabad and Lucknow for a period of three years. He is also restrained from entering in the premises of High Court at Allahabad and Lucknow during the said period, unless specially ordered by this Court,”
-the Court clearly stated.
Pande had asked the Court to reduce the ban period to only three months, saying that practicing in High Court was his only way to earn money. But the Court rejected his request firmly.
“Looking into the previous act of contemnor, more specifically when earlier contemnor was restrained from entering in the premises of this Court for two years, and despite that, contemnor has not shown any improvement in his conduct, we are not satisfied with the aforesaid submission,”
-the judges noted.
This is not the first time Asok Pande has been in trouble. On April 10, the Court had punished him with six months in simple jail and a fine of Rs 2000. This was because he had used abusive language during a 2021 court hearing and even called the judges “goondas.”
He had also come to court with his shirt unbuttoned and continued to dress improperly even after being asked to fix it.
The Court, in its April 10 order, had asked Pande why he should not be banned for three years. Later, he filed an application asking the Court to cancel the entire order.
But on May 26, the Court refused to cancel it, saying the request had no proper reason.
“The order dated 10.4.2025 was passed after giving a thorough hearing to the contemnor. Since it is not an ex-parte order, there does not appear any reason to recall the same. The same considers at length all the submissions that were made by the contemnor. Therefore, we do not find any reason to recall the order passed after hearing the contemnor,”
-the Court explained.
During the punishment hearing, Pande asked for the same punishment as advocate Prashant Bhushan got in 2020—just a fine of Rs 1. But the Court said that Bhushan was involved in only one contempt case, while Pande had a history of repeated contempt.
“Further, he is facing six other contempt petitions. Thus, it is not possible for this Court to grant parity to the contemnor with the case of Prashant Bhushan (supra),”
-the Bench pointed out.
The Court also took serious note of Pande’s behavior in court. He himself admitted that he kept the top two buttons of his shirt open while speaking in court, and even after being asked, he didn’t fix it. He had no proper reason for doing so.
Because of all this, the Court refused to accept his apology, calling it late and not honest.
“Looking into the submission of the contemnor as also his previous conduct and punishments, we do not find any reason to accept his apology, as the same is very belated and is also not bonafide. We also do not find any reason to make any modification in the punishment awarded to the contemnor by order dated 10.4.2025 of six months’ simple imprisonment and fine of Rs.2000/-, and in case of failure to pay the fine within one month, the contemnor shall undergo further imprisonment of one month,”
-the Court concluded.
The Court allowed Pande to surrender before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Lucknow within two months from May 26. It also ordered him to pay the fine of Rs 2000 to the Senior Registrar of the High Court within one month.
CASE TITLE:
State of UP v Asok Pande
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