There are many things to come. It is one of them. Colonial relic yes. But our servile attitude my God.
Madras HC judge bans ‘My Lord’
A Subramani | TNN
Chennai: It’s more than three years since this move to discard a colonial practice was first mooted. But the first step towards actually doing so came from a Madras high court judge. Justice K Chandru has banned lawyers from addressing his court as ‘My lord’ and ‘Your lordship’.
Advocates entering Justice Chandru’s courtroom were in for a surprise on Thursday when they saw a message on a notice board requesting them not to address the court with ‘My Lord’. Quoting a Bar Council of India resolutionadopted in April 2006, the judge requested lawyers to adhere to Rule 49(1)(j) of the Advocates Act as framed by the Bar Council.
It says lawyers can address the court as ‘Your Honour’ and ‘Honourable Court’. If it is a subordinate court, lawyers can use terms such as ‘sir’ or any equivalent phrase in the regional language concerned.
In April 2006, explaining the rationale behind the move, the Bar Council said words such as ‘My Lord’ and ‘Your Lordship’ were “relics of the colonial past’’. The resolution has since been circulated to all state councils and the Supreme Court for adoption.
While heading to the court hall or meetings, a judge of the Madras HC enjoys two unique privileges — a ‘dafedar’ with a silver mace and a hissing sound he lets out to forewarn people that the judge is coming. The ‘My Lord’ issue is not new to the Madras high court. The late KV Sankaran, expresident of the advocates’ association, never addressed the court as ‘My Lord’. Later, senior advocate Govind Swaminathan said: “It is a good move. But I cannot stop calling my wife ‘darling’.’’
