Members of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association have decided to henceforth not address the judges as ‘My Lord’ or ‘Your Lordship’ as they continue their strike.
In a meeting of the association at Allahabad, members were of the opinion that judges should not be considered like God and thus the above addresses were unsuitable for them. This decision also references a similar sentiment echoed by the Chief Justice of India.
In June this year, Justice Chandrachud had said that it was dangerous to think of courts as temples and of judges as Gods.
Rajesh Khare, senior vice president of the Association said that the current address was a ‘leftover of the colonial era’ and that it also placed the judges on a pedestal when they too were human.
In a note issued by the Association on July 11, it was mentioned that there were increasing reports of misbehaviour by judges with lawyers.
Judicial work in the state has been hampered by an ongoing strike by lawyers which is in protest of the mistreatment of lawyers and the conduct of certain judges. While initially a strike was called for July 10, it was ongoing on July 12 too at the time of the filing of this report.
The Bar Association has particularly objected to the conduct of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal. In addition, it is also peeved by judges not following the tradition of revising the list of fresh and unlisted cases.
The relationship between judges and lawyers was impacting the dispensation of justice, the association pointed out in a letter to the Bar Council of India on July 9.
The Association has decided that all such lawyers who have been appearing either in person or on camera during the strike will be suspended from the membership of the association if they do not have a satisfactory response to show cause notices.
Meanwhile, the Bar Council of India has scheduled a virtual meeting with the state body on July 14 to address the strike issue.