Supreme Court in Guwahati lawyer’s case: ‘Advocates must come to court in proper attire’

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Supreme Court served a reminder that every advocate must appear before the Court in the proper attire as mandated by the Rules. The Supreme Court (SC) recently disposed of a petition filed by a noted advocate from Guwahati, pleading against an order passed by the Gauhati High Court that expelled him from the court for wearing a pair of jeans.

To enforce its order, the High Court (HC) had called in police personnel and asked them to remove the lawyer from the court campus. Being aggrieved with the HC’s order, the lawyer approached the SC with the contention that the HC did not have the authority to “de-court” him with police help. In his plea, the advocate maintained that he had apologized for his mistake of wearing a pair of jeans to the Gauhati HC while appearing in a pre-arrest bail application matter. The HC had refused to alter or modify its order, remarking if fashionable jeans or black pyjamas might not be next, as there were no rules regarding this.

The SC bench, comprising Justices Bela Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma, observed that the HC could have adjourned the matter and asked the lawyer to leave instead of calling in the police personnel, more so when he was neither discourteous nor unruly and had even apologized to the court.

Therefore, the SC expugned the following observation from the Gauhati High Court’s order dated January 27, 2023: “Therefore, the Court had to call for the police personnel to de-court him outside the High Court campus.” However, while disposing of the matter, the bench observed, “It is needless to say that every advocate is expected to come to the Court in proper attire as per the Rules and behave in the Court.”

Prior to approaching the SC, the lawyer in question had filed an application before the HC seeking to recall the order to ‘de-court’ him for wearing jeans. The HC, however, refused to recall the order. Instead, it  observed, “If jeans can be worn in court, then the applicant may next ask why he shall not be permitted to appear in court in “torn” jeans, “faded” jeans, jeans with “printed patches,”  which are considered to be fashionable, or why he should not be allowed to appear in black track pants or black pajamas.” The HC said there were no rules excluding these.

Also read: ‘Advocates cannot be sued under Consumer Protection Act for professional negligence': Supreme Court (sentinelassam.com)

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