Born in Almora, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Pande served as a Cabinet Secretary to the Union Government from 2 November 1972 to 31 March 1977.[5] When President's rule was imposed on Punjab, he served as the governor of the state.[6]
Pande was married to Vimla Pande.[7] They had three children: Arvind Pande, IAS,[8] environmentalist Lalit Pande, and Ratna Pande. His brother-in-laws were Vinod Chandra Pande, a former governor and Union Cabinet Secretary and Govind Chandra Pande a Padmi Shri and noted scholar and historian.[7]
He was one of the last living members of the Imperial Civil Service, having entered in the 1939 batch.[9]
The Government of India awarded Pande the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 1972, for his contributions to Indian society[10] and the Padma Vibhushan in 2000.
He is author of his famous autobiography book released after 5 years of his demise as per his wish name “In the Service of Free India” Memoir of a civil servant, by B D Pande.[11]