Avoid honorifics such as ‘My Lord’, Karnataka HC judge urges advocates

Encouraging advocates to discontinue the colonial practice of addressing judges of the higher courts as “My Lord” or “Your Lordship”, Justice P. Krishna Bhat of the High Court of Karnataka on Friday u

Encouraging advocates to discontinue the colonial practice of addressing judges of the higher courts as “My Lord” or “Your Lordship”, Justice P. Krishna Bhat of the High Court of Karnataka on Friday urged them to use words like “Sir”, calling it more appropriate in the Indian circumstance. The advocates were surprised to read the instruction printed on the daily cause list of Justice Bhat’s court hall for Friday. It was also put up on the court hall’s notice board. “Learned counsel are requested to avoid addressing the court with such excessive honorifics as ‘My Lord’ or ‘Your Lordship’, but are requested to adhere to a practice consistent with the dignity and decorum of the court, which is more appropriate in the Indian circumstance, like ‘Sir’,” the note stated.