Summer effect: Delhi High Court relaxes dress code for lawyers, dispenses with wearing of black gowns

The High Court of Delhi has given relaxation in the strict dress code of lawyers, telling them that they need not wear the mandatory black gowns during the summer season.

The decision was taken by Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Satish Chandra Sharma on Monday.

According to a statement issued by Sandeep Sharma, Secretary of Delhi High Court Bar Association, “Members are informed that the Hon’ble Chief Justice has been pleased to order that wearing of ‘Gowns’ by Advocates has been dispensed with effect from March 13, 2023, till further orders in this regard.’

On November 25 last year, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had called for reconsideration of the ‘strict’ dress code for lawyers, in view of the the extreme heatwaves witnessed across the country during summers.

Speaking at an event in New Delhi, the CJI had observed that the legal profession must shed its colonial underpinnings. However, the strictness of attire should not become a reason to morally police women lawyers, Justice Chandrachud had added.