LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court has sentenced local lawyer Ashok Pande to six-month imprisonment in a 2021 contempt case for appearing in court without a lawyer's robe and with his shirt unbuttoned.
The court had taken suo motu notice of the lawyer’s behaviour as he had appeared in court without his proper uniform. He not only misbehaved with the judges but also called them “goondas” when they objected to his appearance, after which he was forced to leave the court.
On Thursday, while delivering the order, a division bench comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice B R Singh granted him four weeks’ time to surrender before the court of Lucknow Chief Judicial Magistrate to serve the sentence. The bench also asked him to deposit a fine of Rs 2,000, failing which he would have to spend an extra month in jail.
Passing the order, the bench also issued a show-cause notice to the lawyer, asking why he should not be restrained from legal practice in the Allahabad High Court and its Lucknow Bench. The lawyer was granted time till May 1 to submit his response to the show-cause notice.
Meanwhile, the judges observed that in light of the gravity of the charges, his previous conduct and his deliberate failure to participate in the present proceedings, exemplary punishment was warranted. After drawing the contempt proceedings, Pande was given time over and again, but he did not file any reply to the contempt charges.
In its verdict, the bench noted Pande’s previous conduct — several contempt proceedings had been initiated against him earlier as well, and even in 2017, he was restrained from entering the premises of the Allahabad High Court and its Lucknow Bench for two years.