Lawyers, Judges Should Have New Dress Code in Independent India: Vice-President

New Delhi: Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday favoured a new dress code for lawyers and judges for independent India. He also advocated for making court orders and judgments available in regional languages too.

"When I see layers and judges I think...we must have our own dress...our own system. This is independent India," said Naidu. The Vice-President was speaking after releasing the book 'Trials of Truth', authored by senior advocate and Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand.

Naidu rued that not just the Indian legal system but also the Parliament was following the convention from pre-independence time.

"Our dress and language should indicate our own culture. When I say culture, it means our way of life. A new dress may give you a new identity...we should have our own identity," he said.

Naidu quipped that Pinky Anand should be knowing famous fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, who could give a few tips. The Vice-President also appealed that the judicial orders and judgments should be prepared in regional languages too.

"I also want to talk about the language used by judges and lawyers...not their tone and tenor but the language they use in courts. I believe it is time to use the language of the people. According to me, the judgments and orders should be in their mother language...the language people speak," said Naidu.

He questioned why English should remain the preferred language when litigants cannot understand what the lawyers and judges are saying.

"I would like the judiciary to ponder over and come to an agreed conclusion. I am not undermining the importance of English at all. But people should understand what's written in the order. We should move towards it," urged Naidu.

He further appealed the judiciary to "reform and transform" to meet the demands of young and aspirational India. "If a case is decided in 10 or 15 years, what is the meaning of it? We must be able to give speedy justice. We should act fast...understand aspiration of young India. Judicial system should reform and transform in such a way that they are able to retain the confidence of the people," said Naidu.

The book ‘Trials of Truth’ contains chapters from several sensational criminal cases in the history of India. It mentions cases such as Nirbhaya, Jessica Lall, Priyadarshini Mattoo, Tandoor case, Ranga Billa kidnapping and Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Speaking at the event, Pinky Anand said that this book was not for lawyers but for the civil society.

“It is not like usual commentaries on how bad the system is and how high profilers are getting away. This book will tell you how the system delivered…how the guilty were punished and the journey of criminal trials,” said Anand.

She added that criminal trials have always evoked curiosity among people and this book has brought out the best of stories in the judicial history of India.