A day after the Allahabad High Court Bar Association threatened to boycott Justice Ajay Bhanot’s court over an advocate allegedly being made to apologise to a police officer, lawyers protesting outside his courtroom allegedly flung furniture towards the dais. Another judge of the High Court has called the slogan-shouting “absolutely contemptuous” and ordered CCTV footage to be examined.
Prayagraj: A protest by lawyers against Justice Ajay Bhanot of the Allahabad High Court turned chaotic on Wednesday, with advocates allegedly throwing furniture and other items around the courtroom and towards the dais. The protest was over an alleged incident on October 27 in which, according to the High Court Bar Association, the judge made a lawyer apologise to a Superintendent of Police for objecting to the officer sitting in a row reserved for lawyers.
Justice Bhanot was sitting with Justice Divesh Chandra Samant when advocates gathered outside the courtroom and raised slogans. Videos of the protest were shared from the High Court on Wednesday. Some reports claimed that a shoe was thrown at the judge, but this has not been independently confirmed.
What the Bar Association alleges
In a letter dated October 27 to the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, sent through the Registrar General, Bar Association president Senior Advocate Dr. C.P. Upadhyay and general secretary Santosh Kumar Mishra alleged that a lawyer in Court No. 49 had asked a Superintendent of Police, seated in the row behind the Additional Government Advocate, to move, telling him, “This is not your seat.”
According to the letter, the Additional Government Advocate rebuked the lawyer and complained to the judge when he entered, after which Justice Bhanot allegedly used harsh words, threatened to send the lawyer to jail and, when the lawyer apologised, made him apologise to the police officer. The Association also alleged that the judge ridiculed senior advocate V.P. Srivastava, and objected to the reported practice of placing a separate chair in the courtroom for police and senior officials. It described the conduct as “contemptuous,” asked the Chief Justice to take cognisance, and warned:
“If the court is free to insult a lawyer, then the lawyer will also not hesitate to insult the court.”
These are the Bar Association’s allegations. Justice Bhanot’s response, if any, is not on record.
“Absolutely contemptuous”: another Bench orders CCTV check
The protest also reached Court No. 66, where Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal was hearing a bail application. Advocates raised slogans and shouted in the corridor outside while the hearing was under way. Advocate Mannu Sharma told the court that the lawyers were protesting the October 27 incident in Justice Bhanot’s court.
Justice Deshwal called the conduct “absolutely contemptuous” and said it “amounts to interference” with court proceedings, noting that “poor litigants come to the high court for redressal of their grievance.” Describing the slogans, shouting and intimidating language as “wholly unjustified,” he said advocates cannot disrupt another court’s proceedings because they have differences with a particular judge.
The Registrar (Protocol) has been directed to examine the CCTV footage, identify the advocates who raised slogans and submit a report by November 19, the next date of listing. The court indicated that the matter could be referred to the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh for disciplinary proceedings and that contempt proceedings could follow.
Background
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that lawyers’ strikes and boycotts of courts are illegal, including in Ex-Capt. Harish Uppal v. Union of India (2002), where it held that advocates have no right to go on strike or call for a boycott, and in District Bar Association, Dehradun v. Ishwar Shandilya (2020). In April 2023, it directed High Courts to set up grievance redressal committees so that lawyers could raise genuine grievances, including against the conduct of judicial officers, without abstaining from work.
No statement from the High Court administration or the Chief Justice on the protest was available at the time of writing. The allegations on both sides are untested.
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Court: Allahabad High Court
Incident: Protest outside the court of Justice Ajay Bhanot (sitting with Justice Divesh Chandra Samant), October 28, 2026
Related order: Devendra Kumar v. State of Uttar Pradesh (bail application), Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal, October 28, 2026; next listing November 19, 2026