HC allows lawyers to skip black robes till June 10
Times of India | 20 April 2024
Kolkata: Lawyers at Calcutta High Court were exempted from wearing the black advocate’s gown in light of the ongoing heatwave conditions in the city.
On Friday, a notification issued by the high court registrar general on instruction of Chief Justice T S Shivagnanam exempted lawyers from wearing the gown with immediate effect from Friday till the court reopens on June 10.Though the courtrooms as well as the rooms of the Bar Association and judges at Calcutta High Court are air-conditioned, advocates have to walk from one building to another that can be extremely challenging with the gown on in the stifling weather.
The Met department has forecast that heatwave conditions with temperature in excess of 40°C will persist for the next five days. On Saturday, the temperature could breach the 41°C-mark.
Last year, too, the high court had granted exemption to lawyers from wearing the black gown in the peak of summer. The Supreme Court (SC) had for the first time in May 2020 had made the allowance. But back then, it was a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of Covid. Black gowns and winged collars owe their origins to the England. The code travelled with the British to their colonies.