The Rajasthan High Court on Monday issued a notification urging counsels and persons appearing before the court to desist from addressing judges as “My Lord” or “Your Lordship”, Bar and Bench reported. The Rajasthan High Court registrar general issued the notification following a meeting of the full court on Sunday.
“To honour the mandate of equality enshrined in the Constitution of India, the Full Court in its meeting dated 14.07.2019 has unanimously resolved to request the counsels and those who appear before the Court to desist from addressing the Hon’ble Judges as ‘My Lord’ and ‘Your Lordship’,” the notification said.
The current Bar Council of India also does not mandate the use of the terms “My Lord” or “Your Lordship”. The Supreme Court had in 2014 also said that the use of the terms is not necessary. “When did we say it is compulsory?” a bench of Justices HL Dattu and SA Bobde had said while hearing a petition moved by an advocate to do away with the practice. Dattu has since retired.
“You can only call us in a dignified manner....How can this negative prayer be accepted by us?” the bench had said. “Don’t address us as ‘lordship’. We don’t say anything. We only say address us respectfully.”
The Madras High Court had also orally observed the same last year. “You need not address us as ‘Your Lordships’ either, it is part of the colonial mindset, we also don’t like it. Just address us as ‘the Court’,” it said at it told a litigant to address the court respectfully.
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