'My Lord Or Your Honour?': How To Address Judges In India?

'My Lord Or Your Honour?': How To Address Judges In India? 

Ashok Kini

17 Aug 2020 9:17 PM 

On 13th August 2020, an interesting exchange happened between the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and a lawyer on how to address the Court. A lawyer addressed the bench presided by the CJI, which was hearing the cases through video conference, as 'Your Honour'. 

"Are you appearing before the US Supreme Court?", CJI Bobde asked the lawyer. According to CJI, the use of ' Your Honour' is not Indian, but American. The lawyer submitted before the bench that there is nothing in law that prescribes address by lawyer. It is about the practice of the court, CJI remarked. 

'My Lord', 'Your Lordship' Not Mandatory, Use Dignified And Respectable Way of Addressing 

On 6 January 2014, the Supreme Court bench comprising the then CJI Justices HL Dattu and SA Bobde heard and dismissed a PIL filed by a lawyer, Advocate Shiv Sagar Tiwari who sought a ban on using the words 'my lord' and 'your lordship'. He contended that these terms are symbols of slavery should be strictly prohibited to be used in the courts throughout India as it is against the dignity of the country."

""When did we say it is compulsory. You can only call us in a dignified manner...To address the court what do we want. Only a respectable way of addressing. You call (judges) sir, it is accepted. You call it your honour, it is accepted. You call lordship it is accepted. These are some of the appropriate way of expression which are accepted,", the bench reportedly told the lawyer while it dismissed the PIL without stating any reasons. 

Section 49 of the Advocates Act empowers the Bar Council of India to make Rules. Exercising these powers, the Council resolved as follows: 

Consistent with the obligation of the Bar to show a respectful attitude towards the Court and bearing in mind the dignity of Judicial Office, the form of address to be adopted whether in the Supreme Court, High Courts or Subordinate Courts should be as follows: "Your Honour" or "Hon'ble Court" in Supreme Court & High Courts and in the Subordinate Courts and Tribunals it is open to the Lawyers to address the Court as "Sir" or the equivalent word in respective regional languages. 

Explanation: As the words "My Lord" and "Your Lordship" are relics of Colonial post, it is proposed to incorporate the above rule showing respectful attitude to the Court. 

Thus the Rule [Part VI, Chapter IIIA of Bar Council of India Rules] prescribe the use of "Your Honour" or "Hon'ble Court" in Supreme Court & High Courts and "Sir" or equivalent words in the Subordinate Courts and Tribunals. The explanation further states that the words "My Lord" and "Your Lordship" are relics of Colonial post. 

It is evident from the above Rule that the Bar Council of India has disapproved the use of "My Lord" and "Your Lordship" and has prescribed the use of "Your Honour" or "Hon'ble Court" or "Sir" to address judges. 

Interestingly, this resolution was taken by Bar Council after considering the observations made by the Supreme Court while hearing a PIL filed by Progressive & Vigilant Lawyers Forum. However, the judgment/order dismissing this PIL on 6 January 2006 could not be accessed. Reportedly, the Court had dismissed the PIL observing that it was a matter to be decided by the BCI as how the Judges should be addressed. 

Following this, in 2007, the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association had unanimously resolved to stop addressing judges as 'My Lord' or 'Your Lordship'. 

Requests By Individual Judges Not To Use 'My Lord' And 'Your Lordship' 

Justice K. Chandru of Madras High Court had in 2009 asked the lawyers to refrain from using 'My Lord'. Earlier this year, Justice S Muralidhar had formally requested the lawyers that they may try and avoid addressing him as 'your lordship' or 'my lord',". The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, Thottathil B. Nair Radhakrishnan had recently addressed a letter to the officers of district judiciary including members of Registry, expressing his desire to be addressed as "Sir" instead of "My Lord" or "Lordship". 

Last year, Rajasthan High Court issued a notice requesting lawyers and those appearing before the judges to desist from addressing the Hon'ble Judges as "My Lord" and "Your Lordship". The notice was issued following a unanimous resolution taken by the Full Court in a meeting held on 14th July. Such move was taken "to honor the mandate of equality enshrined in the Constitution of India". 

Lawyers Use 'Your Lordships' even in pleadings 

Though 'Your Lordship' is a common form of addressing Judges of Supreme Court and High courts even now, despite the BCI Rule disapproving it, there is a practice among lawyers to use 'Your Lordship' in the prayer portion of writ petitions as well. Such a trend is seen in some High Courts.

International Practice

Senior Advocate Harish Salve appeared in the International Court of Justice last year and as per the transcript available, it is seen that he had mostly addressed the court as 'honourable President and honourable Judges'. There is no use of terms like 'My Lord' or 'Lordship' at all. As the Chief Justice SA Bobde pointed out, use of 'Your Honour' is prevalent in the Supreme Court of United States even today. To illustrate, the argument transcripts in the case of Little Sisters of the Poor vs. Pennsylvania uploaded in the SCOTUS portal can be referred to. General Francisco started addressing the Court by 'Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court.' The word 'honor' was used 45 times. During the hearing of Trump vs. Vance, the word 'honor' was used 60 times. The Australian High Court itself has described the way to address its judges. It states that they should be addressed as 'Your Honour' while they preside the benches. Federal Court judges are also supposed to be addressed as 'Your Honour'.

Judiciary.uk, an official web portal of Justice Department of United Kingdom, describes the the different ways to address members of the judiciary. It says that the judges of Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, High Court is supposed to be addressed as 'My Lord' or 'My Lady'. Circuit judges are to be addressed as 'Your Honour' and District Judges and Magistrates and other judges as 'Sir or Madam'. 

In Italian courts, a judge is addressed as Signor Presidente Della Corte (Mr. President of the Court). In Saudi Arabia, it is Qazi, in Spain, it is Su Señoría, (Your Honour). In Germany, male judges are addressed as Herr Vorsitzender and female judges are referred to as Frau Vorsitzende (Mister Chairman or Madam Chairwoman). 

Lahore HC Dismissed A Lawyers' Plea Challenging Use of 'Your Lordship' And 'My Lord' 

The practice in Pakistan is more or less same as that in India. There is a judgment delivered in 2012 by Lahore High Court which dealt with a petition filed by a lawyer named Malik Allah Yar Khan seeking a declaration that no one is allowed to address a judge as "My Lord" or "your Lordship". He contended that such terms are part of British Colonial System and are unslamic as the only God Almighty is the Lord and no man can be the Lord of any man. 

Addressing these contentions, Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh pointed out that no courts or judges have ever issued any command, direction or instruction to the members of the legal fraternity to necessarily address the honourable Judges of the Superior Courts with the terms "My Lord" or "Your Lordship". The judge, taking note of the dictionary meanings of the term 'lord' said that even the English Judicial System practices the use of titles as "My Lord" or "Your Lordship" in recognition of the known ability, nobility and learning of the office holders of the higher judiciary. None of the books of literature or legal background even hinted that the honourable Judges who are addressed with the title of "My Lord" or "Your Lordship" are imagined or thought to be involving the touch of Godly attributes, the judge observed. 

"If the learned members of the Bar who are not directly ordained by the honourable Judges of the Superior Courts to address them in particular manner, adopt the ceremonial and historical form of address to the honourable Judge by using the word "My Lord" or "Your Lordship", the concept of freedom of thoughts of speech as enunciated in our Constitution of 1973, fully gives protection to such a practical exercise. Such practice of the learned members of the Bar cannot be directed to be discontinued by an order passed by this Court as prayed for by the learned counsel for the petitioner on religious grounds", the judge said. 

Countering the petitioner's suggestion that the word 'Sir' is to be used, the court observed that 'Sir' also has a colonial touch. The court also dismissed the objections raised by the petitioner against the practice of bending of heads by the lawyers before the Judges. The Court also dismissed the objection against placing of the seats of the Judges at a higher pedestal in the Courts observing that it is only for the symbolic display of the authority of Courts different from the ordinary people which the Courts enjoy with respect to the persons to whom a direction is intended to be issued by the Courts. 

May It Please 'Your Honour' 

It is seen that many countries use the term 'Your Honour' to address the Judges of superior courts. The terms 'My Lord' and 'Your Lordship' is seen to be still used in United Kingdom and a few other countries. Though there is no absolute legal bar against usage of 'My Lord' and 'Your Lordship' in India, the Courts and the judges must encourage the hesitant lawyers to stick to the prescription of 'Your Honour' by Bar Council of India. The lawyer community should be made to realize that it is not really necessary to use such colonial titles to please the Indian Courts and the judges that man them. 

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Govt. accepts IAS officer’s plea for voluntary retirement

Govt. accepts IAS officer’s plea for voluntary retirement

24/08/2020

Dennis S. JesudasanCHENNAI

The Tamil Nadu government accepted the application for voluntary retirement from service (VRS) of IAS officer Santhosh Babu with effect from Saturday afternoon. Mr. Babu had applied for VRS in January.

A top official told The Hindua Government Order relieving him has been issued. Mr. Babu, who is set to join a private civil service coaching centre in Chennai, was not available for comment.

Mr. Babu, a Principal Secretary ranked officer belongs to the 1995-batch of Tamil Nadu cadre, was until recently the Chairman and Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation.

The officer had sought for VRS when he was the Secretary of Information Technology Department and heading the Tamil Nadu FiberNet(TANFINET) Corporation, which was involved in the tender process for the multi-crore BharatNet project for providing broadband internet services to rural areas.

India could get vaccine by year-end

 India could get vaccine by year-end

24/08/2020

Press Trust of India New Delhi

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said if everything goes well, India will get a vaccine against the novel coronavirus by the end of this year.

Three COVID-19 vaccine candidates, including two indigenous ones, are in different phases of development. The phase I human clinical trials of the two vaccines — one developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR, and the other by Zydus Cadila Ltd — have been completed and the trials have moved to phase II, ICMR Director General Dr. Balram Bhargava said recently.

In a tweet, Dr. Vardhan said, “...if everything goes well, India will get a vaccine by end of this year.”

 Tamil Nadu sticks with e-passes; Puducherry abolishes system

‘Centre’s move poses a challenge to COVID-19 management’

24/08/2020

Police patrols were removed from border points in Puducherry. 

T. Singaravelou

T. Ramakrishnan M. Dinesh VarmaChennai/Puducherry

A day after Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla wrote to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, asking them not to impose restrictions on inter- and intra-State movement, Puducherry removed all travel restrictions on Sunday.

However, Tamil Nadu continued to enforce the e-pass system.

In Coimbatore, State Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said the Centre’s decision would pose a challenge to COVID-19 management work.

He, however, added, “At the same time [if the e-pass system is…

 Admit students after getting NOC, deemed universities told

The move was made keeping in mind the interest of students, says State govt.

24/08/2020

Special Correspondent Coimbatore

The State government has directed deemed universities offering agriculture or allied courses to get its no-objection certificate and then admit students.

In an order issued around a fortnight ago, the government said the move was made keeping in mind the interest of students who had enrolled in agriculture or allied courses and the validity of the degree of those who had obtained degree in those subjects from such institutes.

Other than the 28 private colleges that were affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, there were eight deemed universities in the State that offered agriculture or allied courses – horticulture, agricultural engineering, forestry, food technology, biotechnology and sericulture.

Those deemed universities could apply to the Indian Council for Agricultural Research for accreditation only after the first batch of students had graduated. This meant that the institutes would apply in the fourth year.

And, considering that the accreditation process took eight to 12 months, the institutes could get accredited only in the fifth year. Thereafter, they would have to apply to the State government for no-objection certificate, as mentioned in Government Order 171 of 2018.

The order said, “By the time they [deemed universities] apply for No Objection Certificate to State government after five years of starting agriculture and allied courses, further student batches will be admitted and with this, considerable number of students would undergo the agriculture and allied degree programmes with uncertainty of outcome of accreditation proposal submitted to the Indian Council for Agricultural Research.”

Therefore, in the students’ interest, the government said all deemed to be universities intending to offer agriculture or allied programmes should first obtain no-objection certificate before offering the courses. And, then they would have to get accredited as well as per the Council norms.

Those deemed universities that offered the courses, should furnish proof of having obtained its approval for offering the courses. If they have not, they should do so within six months and admit students after complying with the University Grants Commission’s 2016 regulations.

The order also asked the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University registrar to follow up on its order with the eight deemed universities that offered agriculture or allied courses – SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Kalasalingam University, Karunya University, Prist University, Bharath University, Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya Institute of Agri. and Rural Development, Amirtha Vishwa Vidyapeetham and Saveetha University.

The University registrar was not available for his comment.

Swiggy’s food delivery services resume

Swiggy’s food delivery services resume

Executives end stir after attending a meeting

21/08/2020

Special CorrespondentCHENNAI

Nearly after a week of striking work, most Swiggy delivery executives in the city reported for duty on Friday. They were on strike from last Thursday demanding resumption of their old pay structure.

Partial services began on Wednesday evening after company representatives met a section of the delivery executives and convinced them to return to work at a meeting convened by a senior police officer.

In a statement here, Swiggy said that over the last couple of days, they had a positive dialogue with partners to explain the revised pay-outs and assuage their concerns.

“We are glad that our partners were able to understand the revised service fee, which continues to be best in the industry. Once again, we would like to assert that most active partners have made over ₹45 per order in the last week with the high performing partners making over ₹100 per order,” the statement said.

“Our partners earn incentives over and above this, making their monthly service fee much higher. No active Swiggy delivery partner in the city makes only ₹15 or lesser per order on an average,” it added.

Fewer orders

A delivery executive said that the resumption of rates was yet to reflect on their app. “They gave word that the pay structure would be changed to include waiting charges at restaurants, customer point payout of ₹5 and removal of zones so that we won’t have to ride back empty to our zones,” he said.

Another delivery executive said that there were not many orders on Thursday though they had logged in. “Even though many have logged in, Swiggy’s orders seem to be passed on to another company, which is unfair. They are getting ₹30 per order,” he said.

Celebrating women in innovation is crucial to have role models

Celebrating women in innovation is crucial to have role models

Coimbatore-based Avinashlingam Institute of Home Science and Higher Education for Women tops in newly introduced women category in ARIIA 2020

c-Sheetal.Banchariya@timesgroup.com

24.08.2020

TOI Education Times 

In a first, the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievement (ARIIA) 2020 ranked women institutes separately under a special category. The ranking is implemented by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Education Ministry’s Innovation Cell. The Avinashlingam Institute of Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, has ranked at the first position in the category, followed by Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical Education for Women, Delhi.

“Though the ranking was launched last year, there has been minimal participation from women institutes. Besides, those who apply do not find top spots in the ranking. Seeing some institutes featuring at the top of the ranking will certainly motivate others to participate and will provide the much-needed encouragement to women in the field of innovation,” says Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman, AICTE.

Premavathy Vijayan, vice chancellor of Avinashlingam Institute of Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, says, “For a long time, only IITs or premier institutes have dominated rankings, especially in the domains of entrepreneurship and innovation. The introduction of the special category may improve the ecosystem and young girls will have more role models. It will also have a positive impact on admissions and placements.”

There is certainly a lack of awareness among the allwomen institutes regarding the importance of ranking as not many participate in global or national rankings.

Amita Dev, vice chancellor of Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical Education for Women, believes that the achievement will open doors for collaborative projects and training. “Getting opportunities to enter the professional space through projects or internships while in college will improve the job and research prospects for young girls, which will eventually, foster gender equality in workplaces.”

“The move will help build the confidence of all-women institutes. There was no provision to apply in the special women category this year, but it was introduced during the final result preparation to encourage more women colleges to apply from next year onwards. We may continue the special category or revoke it after a few years, the decision is not final yet,” he adds. Though the number of women institutes that participated in the 2020 ranking has not been revealed by the ministry, a total of 674 institutions participated in the ranking this year as compared to 496 last year.

A profession that blends law and governance

A profession that blends law and governance

Company secretaries are the torch bearers of corporate governance and compliance in any organisation, reports Shivangi Mishra

24.08.2020

TOI Education Times 

With a new training structure, entrance-based enrolment, expanding global footprint, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is all set to realign the sector with the changing requirements of Industry 4.0 and attract the best brains to the discipline. “These changes that go into effect from this academic year are aimed at equipping students with requisite technical knowledge and soft skills to meet the expectations of the industry, regulators and other stakeholders,” says Ashish Garg, president, ICSI, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Who is a CS

Giving an insight into what the job role of a company secretary is, Garg says, that they are the torch bearers of corporate governance and compliance. Their role is beyond corporate law and holds a distinct position from chartered accountant’s profession. “CS functions in a multidisciplinary role with the gamut of responsibilities including areas of corporate law, securities and capital market laws, auditing (financial, secretarial, forensic), FEMA laws, GST and various other economic, business commercial laws,” says Garg.

Job roles to fill

Along with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, various regulators like Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), Central Depository Services (CDSL) and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) are recognising company secretaries for the roles being played by them as key managerial personnel, secretarial auditor, compliance officer, insolvency professional and registered valuer. These professionals have also been authorised to represent before Registrar of Companies (RoCs), National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Competition Commission of India and Competition Appellate Tribunal, Securities Appellate Tribunal, Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal and various other authorities and other quasi-judicial bodies and tribunals.

“The opportunities are expanding with every passing year. Recently, Company Secretaries have been included in the list of qualification and experience of Arbitrators in the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2019. Various other representations have been submitted with the authorities concerned to accord recognitions to Company Secretaries for undertaking activities under those laws,” says Garg.

Entrance exam

To bring the course at par with best modern practices, the institute has undergone a major revamp including introduction of Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test (CSEET). Earlier, the enrolment to the CS course was without any assessment. “Computer-based CSEET has been introduced as the qualifying test for registration to executive programmes keeping in view the diverse academic standards of students seeking admission to the course. It will help filter the quality of enrolments and attract meritorious students,” says Garg. Students from all backgrounds, except Fine Arts, can enrol to CS.

Full report at www.educationtimes.com

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