Another Punjab and Haryana HC judge requests lawyers to avoid using terms like ‘my lord’

Days after Justice S Muralidhar requested lawyers to avoid using terms such as “my lord” or “your lordship” while addressing him, another judge, justice AK Tyagi of Punjab and Haryana high court (HC), has made a similar request. In the list of cases put out by the HC administration under his name, a note has been put stating, “It is for the information of respective members of the bar that Hon’ble Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi has requested that respected members of the bar may avoid addressing him as ‘your lordship’ or ‘my lord’. All concerned to note please.”

Justice Muralidhar, who was transferred from the Delhi high court on February 26, had made the request on March 15. Notably, in 2011, the high court bar association had asked its members to prefer addressing judges as “sir” or “your honour”. In 2006, the Bar Council of India (BCI) too had adopted a resolution to do away with such ‘relics’. However, most lawyers continue with what is called ‘relics of the colonial past’. After justice Muralidhar’s request, a section of lawyers had welcomed the move and exhorted other judges to follow suit.

Tyagi had joined the Haryana Civil Services (judicial branch) in 1986 and was elevated as an additional judge of the HC in November 2018.