NEW DELHI: An image of a court notice of Pune District Court, which senior Supreme Court advocate and well-known human rights activist Indira Jaising shared on Twitter on Sunday has caused quite an uproar on social media.
The notice, dated October 20, 2022, instructs women's advocates to forgo hair styling. "It is regularly seen that women advocates are styling their hair in open Court, which is disrupting the running of the Court," reads the controversial notice, which is undersigned by the Registrar of Pune District Court. Women's rights activists were thereby advised to refrain from such behavior.
Jaising posted a picture of this warning along with the caption, "Wow, now look! Who is distracted by women advocates and why!" The number of likes for this tweet is now over 4,600, with 985 retweets and 237 quote tweets. The court's order is being criticised by online users as being sexist and discriminatory against women.
Many among the Twitterati commented on the tweet about women advocates 'arranging their hair in open court, disturbing functioning of the court…'
A Twitter user commented on Jaising's tweet saying, "If they choose to get distracted by the mere sight of women tomorrow, would women advocates be barred as well? Or asked to wear Ghunghat?"
"This is too much. But new rules need to be formed for the dress code. Nowadays many newcomers wear anything like jeans, especially women wearing colorful dresses and sarees as if they are coming to attend a party," another user commented.
Another user wrote, "As if male advocates never adjust their hair, or dress, or eye glasses, or say mustache during court proceedings! Lecherous-ness lies in the eyes of the beholder?" :-)"
Another user, however, disagreed with jaising's post, commenting, "Discipline. Not distraction. Courts get distracted by indisciplined activities of male lawyers too (like unnecessary nodding of head when judge speaks). Don't make every issue anti women madam."
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