Supreme Court Dismisses Lawyer's Plea Seeking Rs 1 Crore Fees For Filing Cases To 'Save' Former CJI Dipak Misra

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by Advocate Ashok Pandey who sought Rs 1 crore from the Union Government towards fees and expenses for the cases said to have been filed by him to "save" former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi dismissed the petition as "misconceived." The bench observed that the High Court rightly dismissed his petition.

"You have not incurred any expenses? You appeared in person," CJI told Pandey at the outset. Pandey replied that he incurred expenses of about Rs 2 lakh rupees for conducting the litigation, and that he had to take the money from his daughter.

When Pandey used the word "Hon'ble" in relation to the former Judge, CJI Kant asked, "After making all nasty allegations against a judge, why are you using the word "Hon'ble"?

The petitioner claimed that when the former CJI was facing impeachment, no one came to defend him. The CJI sarcastically commented that one should not expect any moneteray returns for "social service".

"You provided great social service to the institution. It is priceless. How can it be quantified at Rs 1 Crore or Rs 2 Crore," CJI said.

The petitioner challenged the Allahabad High Court decision which dismissed his petition seeking a direction to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice to pay him Rs. 1 crore as fees and expenses, claiming that he filed certain cases in the Supreme Court to save the then Chief Justice of India, Justice Dipak Misra, from "humiliation, insult, torture, and removal."

The High Court bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla rejected his plea as well as his request to grant the Certificate for appeal to the Supreme Court as per Article 134A of the Constitution of India.

In his writ petition, the Petitioner in person, Advocate Ashok Pandey, had also challenged the rejection of his representation, which he had submitted to the President of India on February 28, 2024, requesting Rs. 1 crore for the legal services rendered by him in 'saving' the then CJI Misra.

After his plea was dismissed, Advocate Pandey requested a certificate to appeal before the Supreme Court, arguing that his petition involved a substantial question of law regarding the relationship between the President and Ministry officials.

He questioned whether a reference sent by the President could be rejected by the Ministry, considering the constitutional status of the Hon'ble President. However, the Court rejected this request as well.

Notably, in April 2018, 71 Rajya Sabha members from seven political parties signed a notice seeking impeachment proceedings against Justice Misra. However, the then Vice-President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman, Venkaiah Naidu, later rejected the notice, stating that it lacked substantial merit.

Case details : ASHOK PANDEY vs. UNION OF INDIA| Diary No. - 106/2026