National

Bowing To Her Lordship, Seriously

Anachronistic prefixes to judges are proof of gender biases plaguing the system

Advertisement

Bowing To Her Lordship, Seriously
info_icon

The behaviour of the judges of this country has not been democratised along with the democratisation of polity post-Independence. The judges do not think they are part of the system and at times behave as if they have descended from the heavens. Article 18 of the Constitution abolishes all titles. But the jud­ges of the higher judiciary still call themselves lords. They are immensely pleased if addressed as ‘Your Lordship’ or ‘His Lordship’. The Bar Council has statutory rules obliging lawyers to address judges only as ‘Sir’ or ‘Your Honour’, but they still use those anachronistic prefixes. It is so incongruous that even woman judges are called ‘Her Lordship’.

Advertisement

There are more signs. In the Madras High Court, judges want a duffedar to carry a silver mace on their way to the court from their chambers and back. The mace-bearers wear a colonial uniform that does not fit the present sartorial practices of class IV employees. In fact, many duffedars do not wear their shoes while they carry the mace. Yet, the pathos could not have been higher: they often cherish the reflected glory, as if they too are not just functionaries paid by the state.

As for the judges, the Madras High Court actually passed a judicial order in 1991 to have a car with a revolving red beacon allotted by the state, along with a driver, to put them on par with ministers of the state cabinet. The order forbids the police from stopping their car for small violations, making the judges above traffic offences! I do not think 90 per cent of judges ever go to any market, street vendors or bookshops. But even while going to movie halls, hotels, hospitals, railway stations and airports, they have to have the protocol staff at hand to make their ingress and egress easy. Some 30 years ago, the courts never had any protocol department. Today, these departments are hugely staffed, headed by an officer at the rank of a registrar.

Advertisement

There is no rule that actually prescribes a dress code for the judges. It is only that they continue to wear the colon­ial dress handed down by the British. The irony is, even the newly-formed Sup­reme Court of Great Britain has got a modern uniform for the judges done by a designer. The dress our judges wear, on the other hand, neither suits our climate nor registers any significant value in terms of appearance.

Most high court judges, while visiting district courts (their portfolio districts), expect the entire subordinate judiciary, court staff and others to be present either at the railway station or airport, never mind the time of arrival. For courts not connected by rail or air, the subordinate judges, including women judges, are expected to be present at the district border, waiting on the highways even at midnight. Despite a high court circular in 2007, things have not changed. Often, when subordinate judges visit HC judges, they are never offe­red a seat and have to stand all the time.

It is high time such inherited colonial practices, which make a mockery of our judicial system, are given up. The Bar is wary of questioning them. The only way is to discuss it in public.

(Justice Chandru is a retired judge of the Madras High Court)

Tags

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement