'My Lord', 'Your Honour' make no difference: Law Minister

New Delhi, Apr 27 (UNI) The controversy, whether lawyers should address the Supreme Court or High Court judges as ''My Lord'' or ''Your Honour'', carries no weightage as ''it makes no difference'', says Union Law Minister Hans Lal Bhardwaj.

Addressing the the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) at a function organised to felicitate the members of the SCBA, who have either become MPs or the Union Minister, Mr Bhardwaj said, ''It hardly matters whether you address as 'Your Lordship' or as 'Your Honour' as it makes no diference.'' The Bar Council of India, a statutary body supervising legal education and legal profession in the country, had passed a resolution on April 6, telling the lawyers to stop addressing the Supreme Court and the High Court judges as ''My Lord'' or ''Your Lordship'' or ''Your Honour'' as it is a part of legacy of colonial past.

The resolution further added that the judges in district court should be addressed as ''Sir'' or its equivalent word in the regional languages.

The move was however welcomed by the Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal as a ''step in the right direction''.

Meanwhile the CJI, who was also present at the function, confirmed the disclosure made by the SCBA president P H Parekh saying the CJI had written a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the allotment of 20 acre of land in Appu Garh.

Justice Sabharwal also told the gathering that the Prime Minister had assured to consider the request sympathetically. The land is being sought for construction of Lawyers' Chambers, auditorium and other law-releated facilities.

Among others present at the function were Union Minister for Minority Affairs A R Antulay, Minister of State for Finance Pawan Bansal, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhivi, former I&B Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rajya Sabha MP Rashid Alvi.

UNI AKS-SC VJ PM1658