“Not a Coffee Shop”: Chief Justice’s Stern Warning to Lawyer Over Informal Language

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud reprimanded a lawyer today for using the informal term “yeah” to address the bench, expressing that he is “allergic” to such language. He reminded the lawyer that he was in a courtroom, not a café.

The lawyer referred to a 2018 petition where he had included former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi as a respondent. The Chief Justice questioned, “But is it an Article 32 plea? How can you file a PIL with a judge as a respondent?” Article 32 of the Constitution allows citizens to seek constitutional remedies when their fundamental rights are infringed.

In reply, the lawyer said, “Yeah, yeah, the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi… I was asked to file a curative…” but was interrupted by the Chief Justice. “This is not a coffee shop! What is this ‘yeah, yeah’? I am very allergic to this. This cannot be permitted.”

The Chief Justice pointed out that “Justice Gogoi was a former judge of this court. You cannot file a plea like this against a judge and request an in-house inquiry just because you were unsuccessful before the bench.”

The lawyer explained, “But Justice Gogoi dismissed my plea based on a statement I had challenged as illegal. I had no fault; I had asked CJI Thakur to move my review plea to a bench familiar with labor laws. But that did not happen, and it was dismissed.” The Chief Justice then addressed the lawyer in Marathi, indicating that one cannot challenge a judge while contesting a high court judgment.

He instructed the registry to review the petition and advised the petitioner to remove Justice Gogoi’s name—now a Rajya Sabha MP—from the petition.