Calling Judges Lord, Your Honor not mandatory : S.C

“To address the court what do we want. Only a respectable way of addressing is required, there is no compulsion or  anything like that.

“When did we say it is compulsory. You can only call us in a dignified manner, a bench comprising justices H L Dattu and S A Bobde observed during the hearing of a petition which said addressing judges as “my lord or your lordship” in courts is a relic of colonial era and a sign of slavery.

In the present case, the apex court refused to entertain the PIL by stating that it cannot accept this negative prayer and said it does not ask that judges be addressed as lordship the only thing needed it to address it respectfully. The bench further said that it is up to the lawyers to say Sir, Your Lordship or Your Honor and it cannot direct on the way the courts should be addressed.