‘Is this a cinema hall,’ a Patna High Court judge asked a civil servant who appeared in court in an open collar, without a blazer. The formal white shirt he wore was labelled ‘inappropriate attire’
Anand Kishor, chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board and principal secretary for Housing and Urban Development in the state was dressed in what appears to be a white shirt in court. Representational picture/Pixabay
“Is this a cinema hall?” That’s the question a judge of the Patna High Court sternly asked a Bihar Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer during a court hearing. In the month-old clip, which has now gone viral on social media, Justice PB Bajanthri can be seen reprimanding the Bihar government civil servant for appearing in court in “inappropriate attire”.
In the video, the officer appears cornered, as he is questioned in a full courtroom. But what did he wear that miffed the judge?
Anand Kishor, chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board and principal secretary for Housing and Urban Development in the state, was dressed in what appears to be a crisp formal white shirt with trousers for the hearing.
However, that is not the protocol to appear in court, according to Justice Bajanthri. The IAS official should have buttoned his collar and worn a blazer.
“Don’t you know what dress code you have to wear in the court? Did you not go for IAS training in Mussoorie,” the judge asked Kishor, who is said to be close to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
“What is this? What is wrong with IAS officers in the state of Bihar? They don’t know how to appear in the court? Formal dress means at least a coat. And collar should not be open,” Justice Bajanthri slammed Kishor as he stood in the courtroom distressed.
What did the officer say?
Struggling to find an explanation, the officer defended himself by saying that there was no official code on wearing a coat in summer.
However, this did not go down well with the judge, who made the “cinema hall” jibe. “When you come to court there should be a proper dress code,” he instructed.
Is there a dress code for civil servants?
Unlike the Indian Police Service (IPS) or defence personnel who are expected to appear in uniform while on duty, there’s no “official” dress code for IAS officers.
The high courts or Supreme Courts have no rules that spell out the dress code for civil servants. During the training, they are handed a rulebook which mentions that bureaucrats should be dressed decently, according to a report in ThePrint.
What have courts said in the past?
In October 2019, Advocate General in Odisha instructed the government officers to wear formal and descent dress while appearing in person before any court or tribunal in the state in connection with cases. The instruction was issued to heads of various departments of the state government, officials said.
Although, there is no such standing instruction or any executive or judicial guideline in place, but it was imperative and expected that a government official while appearing in person before courts “must wear decent dress”, the AGA had said urging officials to uphold the majesty of the courts, according to news agency PTI.
In 2018, a Supreme Court bench slammed an IAS officer from Rajasthan for wearing a colourful shirt to court. It declined to hear the case since his clothing was not “sober and decent”. The matter was taken up the next day when Additional Chief Secretary of Urban Development and Housing Department of the state government Manjit Singh appeared before the top court in a royal blue suit.
“Irrespective of whether there are rules or no rules, bureaucrats are always expected to wear sober and decent dress, while appearing in courts. It does not matter whether there are administrative instructions or not but there should be a certain level of decency,” a bench of Justice J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul had said.
In 2017, the Himachal High Court laid down rules for litigants, especially government officials, saying jeans and checked shirts were not allowed, according to a report in Hindustan Times.
Emphasising the importance of correct dressing in its order, the court had said, “Judges and magistrates play a pivotal role in the administration of justice and that is why they wear specific dress prescribed by the rules framed by the high court. This dress is worn compulsorily in order to maintain the dignity and decorum of the court and, therefore, we see no reason why any litigant, more particularly, government officers and officials should be improperly or inappropriately dressed while appearing before the court.”
Does everyone agree?
Not all in the legal fraternity agree. The recent video from Bihar has left them divided.
Shashank Shekhar Jha, a Supreme Court lawyer, commented on the video on Twitter. “What’s wrong with the dress code here? Unnecessary humiliation and anger,” he wrote.
According to former Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta, Justice Bajanthri’s remarks were unwarranted since the civil servant was perfectly dressed. “Nowhere is it provided that a bureaucrat should be in a blazer or tie,” he told ThePrint. “The only requirement is that the officer should be appropriately dressed.”
With inputs from agencies
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