‘Hon’ble’ prefix not good for bureaucrats: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court questioned the use of the term ‘Hon’ble’ for bureaucrats and state government officials, and asked the Principal Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Department to file a personal affidavit disclosing the authority in law that justifies the term.

A bench of Justices Ajay Bhanot and Garima Prasad passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Yogesh Sharma, when he asked why “Additional Commissioner, Appeals” was called “Hon’ble Additional Commissioner, Appeals”.

The court said, “This is a subtle but sure way of undermining the status of the constitutional authorities and the courts. There is a recent trend where the correspondence as well as orders of various state officials ranging from the ranks to the highest are being prefixed with ‘Hon’ble’.”

Stating that the prefix should be used only for ministers and other sovereign functionaries, it said, “It does not bode well for state government bureaucrats or officials.” The bench said, “This court notices that in official correspondence, there is regular reference to the addition of the word ‘Hon’ble’ to the names of officers of various ranks in the State. In this case, the Divisional Commissioner of Kanpur has been referred to as ‘Hon’ble’ Commissioner by the Collector, Etawah.”

The court directed the Principal Secretary to apprise the court if there is any protocol regarding state officials who are entitled to have the prefix or the word ‘Hon’ble’ attached to their designation or name.

The court listed the case afresh for December 19.