Gown not mandatory for advocates in district & lower courts: BCI

Saturday, 26 July 2014 By Legally India Bar, Bench & Litigation

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has stated that under Rule III of the BCI rules “wearing of advocate’s gown shall be optional except when appearing in the Supreme Court or in High courts”, reported the Times of India, and under Rule IV, “wearing of black coat is not mandatory” during summer.

The relaxed dress code, communicated in a letter of 16 July by the BCI, was a response to a letter sent on 2 June by the Tamil Nadu Federation of Women’s Lawyers, requesting the exemption because of the inordinate heat in summer, particularly in Tamil Nadu.

Bar Council of India (BCI)dress code

Comments

Delhi Lawyer 26 Jul 2014, 13:56
+2 -0
Duh LI! This has always been the case. TOI is a stupid paper. They publish anything.
BCI Rules always said gown is not necessary in district courts. The letter by an uninformed person should not make a new.
kianganz 26 Jul 2014, 14:18
+1 -1
Clearly some people didn't know, such as the TN Federation of Women Lawyers? :)
Vakeel Saheb 27 Jul 2014, 05:57
+1 -1
Probably they are referring to sleeping gown!
Summer 30 Jul 2014, 11:58
+0 -0
Summer is not a defined term under the Rules.
DBS 26 Jul 2014, 15:09
+1 -0
Wasn't this always the case??!!! Stupid.
Dee 26 Jul 2014, 16:28
+1 -0
Actually, in Chennai, lawyers are expected to wear their gowns in all courts, not just the a High Court. So it makes sense for them to seek this clarification.
Summer 30 Jul 2014, 11:59
+0 -0
Expected by who? If the expectation is created by some notification, it is in violation of the BCI Rules and is [i]void ab initio[/i].
Dee 5 Aug 2014, 09:36
+0 -0
I don't know if there's a notification, but if it's a custom, then it would be difficult for lawyers to not follow. Dress codes vary across courts in many ways (women lawyers in Delhi only wear black and white, while in Bangalore they wear sequinned anarkali suits, for example), so I'm not surprised that even in the absence of a notification, court customs would dictate a certain dress code. But it's damn stupid, all the same.
Green lantern 27 Jul 2014, 03:07
+8 -2
Perhaps lawyers were caught wearing just the gown and with nothing underneath
Ergo Omni 30 Jul 2014, 05:19
+0 -2
Why is it that women always try and challenge the best traditions of the bar? Sigh.
Blessed 7 Jun 2017, 19:33
+0 -0
Can one wear gown only after passing the bar exam?
Commenting is closed for this article.