Bhubaneswar: The state Advocate General has instructed all government officers to adhere to the dress code while appearing in the Orissa High Court.
In a letter to Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, a copy of which is available with Orissa POST, Government Advocate Ramakanta Mahapatra said, “Whenever there is an order for personal appearance by a government officer or there is occasion to appear in person before the High Court in any matter, the concerned officer should be properly dressed as prescribed in the dress code.”
As the officials have not been adhering to dress code in the courts, the judges have frequently expressed their dissatisfaction. This also has led to difficulties for the advocates in performing their service, he said.
“Many a time, an officer who appears on the direction of the court or when there is an occasion for him to appear in person to address the court, he is not properly dressed, as a result there is difficulty in performing the required job and at times, the court takes a serious note of such lapses on the part of the concerned government officer,” he pointed out
Mahapatra also urged the Chief Secretary to instruct his officers to file affidavits in the court on time. In many cases, the officials delay in submitting affidavits.
“Whenever there is an order and/or direction by the court to file an affidavit, the concerned officer should do so at the earliest thereby eliminating unnecessary delay and adverse orders for non-filing of affidavit/counter affidavit,” the government advocate said.
He requested the Chief Secretary to issue appropriate instructions to all the authorities in this regard so that unnecessary embarrassment can be evaded.
This is not the first instance, wherein a court has raised objections to an officer’s dress sense while appearing in a court.
In March 2018, Supreme Court had reprimanded a senior Rajasthan official for not wearing “proper dress”. The apex court had said bureaucrats should wear “sober and decent” dress while appearing in the courts.
