New Delhi: Should judges be addressed as "My Lord" in court? Absolutely not, says a man who has asked the Supreme Court to ban the honorific because it is "a relic of the colonial era and against the dignity of the country."
A petition filed in Supreme Court on Monday sought a ban on their use in the country.
A PIL was filed on Monday by a 75-year-old lawyer seeking the apex court's direction to strictly prohibit the use of My Lord or Your Lordships in the courts throughout India alleging that "it is against the dignity of the country."
"Using the word My Lord and Your Lordship which is symbol of slavery should be strictly prohibited to be used in the courts throughout India as it is against the dignity of the country," the petitioner Shiv Sagar Tiwari submitted before a bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
The bench, after briefly hearing his plea, said how can it issue such a direction and raised question on whether any court in the country insists on being addressed by these terms.
The petitioner replied his plea in the apex court was allegedly dismissed just because he did not address the court by these terms. A hearing could not take place further as Justice Gogoi recused himself from hearing the case.
