LUCKNOW: In a recent observation over adding honorifics to the names of personalities holding constitutional positions, the Allahabad High Court said that the constitutional functionaries, who exercise sovereign functions, must be addressed as ‘Hon’ble’ in every communication pertaining to them.
A division bench comprising Justices JJ Munir and Tarun Saxena said that personal disgruntlement or familiarity with a family could not permit the author of any communication to refer to a sovereign functionary without their entitled honorific. The court, however, added that a civil servant, regardless of rank, is not entitled to use this specific honorific.
The bench said, “The ministers of the Central and state governments, the Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, the Speaker, the Chairman of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, respectively, and likewise of the state legislative Assemblies, the Members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies were entitled to the use of this honorific.”
The bench added that there could be other similar functionaries who, according to the protocol, are entitled to use of this honorific.
The bench, while hearing a petition filed by one Harshit Sharma and others, also clarified that whoever was entitled to that protocol must be addressed likewise.
When this case was heard on March 31, the bench took exception to the UP Police having failed to append ‘Hon’ble’ before the name of a Member of Parliament and ex-Union Minister, Anurag Thakur, whose name was mentioned in the FIR.
The bench had then called for the explanation of the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), government of UP.
On April 30, the bench was apprised through an affidavit that a typed Hindi complaint produced by the first informant, Khajan Singh, had not referred to Anurag Thakur as Hon’ble, and the same was reproduced verbatim in column 12 of the FIR.