Delhi High Court stays Shahdara Bar Association's notice prescribing new dress code for law interns

The Delhi High Court on Thursday stayed a recent resolution passed by Delhi's Shahdara Bar Association (SBA) prescribing a dress code for law interns.

The SBA had passed a resolution on November 24 restricting interns from wearing black coats in Delhi's Karkardooma courts. The resolution required them to wear white shirt, blue coat and trousers to distinguish them from lawyers.

This was challenged before the High Court by a second-year law student.

Single-judge Justice Prathiba M Singh asked the Bar Council of Delhi to convene a meeting of all bar associations in the national capital and other stakeholders, to reach a consensus on what uniform law interns should wear.

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has also been asked to join the meeting.

"Considering the large number of interns, a uniform policy ought to be arrived at with the consent of all stakeholders. A consistent uniform should be prescribed because if different associations prescribe different uniforms then the interns will be inconvenienced," the Court said.

The SBA in its resolution had said that interns will not be allowed to attend courts of they fail to adhere to the prescribed dress code.

The petition was filed through advocates Ujwal Ghai, Shivek Rai Kapoor, Sanchit Saini and Arpit Sharma.