Plea to bar waiters from wearing lawyers’ uniform dismissed

LAHORE
A division bench of the Lahore High Court Monday dismissed an intra-court appeal seeking ban on wearing of lawyers’ uniform by waiters at different hotels.
The bench headed by Justice Ayesha A Malik dismissed it by ruling that court could not issue directions on wearing clothes of citizens.
Sarfaraz Ahmed Advocate had filed appeal against order of the single bench. He submitted that single bench had dismissed his petition. He said he just sought ban on hotel and restaurants employees especially the waiters to use uniform similar to lawyers but the court took his petition as if he was seeking ban on wearing lawyers’ uniform by any citizens of the country. He said the uniform of the bar and the bench was prescribed in High Court Rules and Orders, General Chapter under the head “Dress of the Advocates appearing in the high courts”, Supreme Court Rules 1980 in part 1 under order IV Rule 8 and Supreme Court (Court Dress and Mode of Dress) Order 1980.
He said the uniform of a professional person like a doctor and lawyer had an independent recognition in the society. Other examples are uniform of armed forces, police, Rescue 1122 and traffic wardens etc. He said there was no other example of same uniform for two professions/ occupations. He said a prescribed uniform was icon of a profession and on seeing any person in such uniform anybody could guess his profession. The petitioner submitted that the lawyers’ uniform was of exclusive type. They are always supposed to wear it while appearing in courts. Without observing this uniform, they are neither allowed to plead the case before the courts nor even permitted to argue. He prayed the court to set aside the single bench’s order and ban wearing of lawyers’ uniform by industry workers.