The Allahabad High Court has found that a group of lawyers prima facie committed criminal contempt and criminal offences by assaulting Additional Government Advocates (AGAs), court staff and security personnel and vandalising Court No. 49 on October 28. The Court said a letter issued a day earlier by the newly elected office bearers of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association was the “genesis” of the incident.
A Bench of Justice Ajay Bhanot and Justice Divesh Chandra Samant, sitting in chamber, referred the matter to the Chief Justice for criminal contempt proceedings. It also asked the Chief Justice to consider directing the Registrar General to have FIRs registered against the lawyers involved and against those who spread false posts about the incident on social media.
What Happened in Court No. 49
When the Court sat on the morning of October 28, Senior Advocate V.P. Srivastava referred to a Bar Association letter dated October 27 that claimed he had been humiliated in the Court the previous day. He told the Court that no such incident had occurred and that proceedings had been conducted amicably while he was present.
Soon after, lawyers inside and outside the courtroom began shouting so loudly that the Bench found it impossible to continue, and it rose. AGA-I Paritosh Kumar Malviya later ran into the judges’ chamber with a swollen face and pleaded for his life. He said a group of lawyers had assaulted him in the courtroom and threatened him for defending the State. He said he survived because AGA Sandeep Tiwari intervened.
The Bench had a High Court Dispensary doctor attend to him. AGAs Sanjeev Pandey, Pradeep Jaiswar and Sandeep Tiwari corroborated his account. They said they had been dragged, warned against defending the State, and that the courtroom chairs had been removed before 10:00 AM. The Registrar General’s report of the same evening recorded that court staff and security personnel were also attacked and furniture was damaged.
Bar Association Letter “Misleading” and “False”
The Court examined the October 27 letter issued by Dr. C.P. Upadhyay, Senior Advocate and President elect, and Santosh Kumar Mishra, General Secretary elect. The letter alleged three things:
- Special seating had been arranged for police officials.
- A counsel had been forced to apologise to a senior police officer.
- Justice Bhanot had pointed his finger at a lawyer and ordered him sent to jail.
On the seating, the Bench said a chair is provided only to officials called to assist the Court, never to those facing contempt. It added that the arrangement had never been objected to over the years.
On the apology, the Bench said the counsel had tried to shove the official, did not deny it, and chose to apologise. It observed, “Expression of regret is not an act of humiliation, but a path to redemption.”
The claim of a jail order was, the Court said, “a total falsehood and a deliberate one,” since no such order was dictated or exists on record. The Court held that “False facts and inciting language in the letter dated 27.10.2026 reveal its questionable intent,” and that a live nexus could be discerned between the letter and the violence that followed.
Social Media, Dissent and Dignity of Government Advocates
The Bench said social media had spread a narrative of falsehoods to bring the High Court into disrepute. It remarked that “A frenzy of social media falsehoods caused the carnage of truth.”
On the limits of dissent at the Bar, the Court said, “Anarchy is not a species of dissent. Freedom of speech at the Bar is not the freedom to slander the Bench.” It also held that “Government Advocates do not stand at any lower pedestal than other Advocates.”
Referring to its earlier rulings in Mohammad Kafeel vs. State of U.P. and the suo motu PIL on the July 21 violence at the Lucknow District Court, the Bench described criminalisation of the Bar as a faultline in the State’s judicial system. Rejecting any compromise in the name of Bar-Bench harmony, it said, “Appeasement of violence in Court will make the Courts vulnerable to blackmail and not prevent recurrence of violence.”
Directions
The Court directed that the matter be placed before the Chief Justice for transmission to the appropriate Bench for criminal contempt proceedings against the lawyers concerned. It requested consideration of directions to the Registrar General to:
- ensure registration of an FIR for incitement, conspiracy, violence and vandalism;
- register an FIR against those who put out false social media posts; and
- ensure those posts are blocked and deleted.
The Registrar General’s report is to be kept in a sealed cover.
The Bench placed on record its appreciation for V.P. Srivastava and AGAs Paritosh Kumar Malviya, Sanjeev Pandey, Pradeep Jaiswar, Shehnawaz Khan and Sandeep Tripathi. It also stressed that the State must protect its own law officers.
Case Title: In Re: Commission of Criminal Contempt and Criminal Offences by Lawyers in Court No. 49 on 28.10.2026
Case No.: Not mentioned in the order
Bench: Justice Ajay Bhanot and Justice Divesh Chandra Samant
Date: October 29, 2026
