Delhi High Court judge Rekha Palli’s lesson for lawyer who called her ‘sir’

Justice Rekha Palli was appointed as a Delhi High Court judge in 2017. (Image: Delhi High Court)

Delhi High Court judge Rekha Palli was irked during a hearing on Wednesday after a lawyer repeatedly addressed her as “sir”, Live Law reported.

The judge pointedly told the advocate: “I am not sir. I hope you can make that out.”

Pulled up by the judge, the lawyer said they only addressed her as “sir” because of the chair she was sitting in.

J Palli - "Then that's even worse, if after all this time you think that the Chair is for Sirs. If the younger members don't stop differentiating, then what hope do we have for the future?".#DelhiHighCourt

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) February 16, 2022

In response to the lawyer’s explanation, Palli said it was even worse for them to think that a judge's chair was for “sirs”.

“If the younger members don't stop differentiating, then what hope do we have for the future?" the judge said, according to Live Law.

The Delhi High Court has 40 judges, according to Bar and Bench. Only 20% are women. The list of women judges includes Palli, Asha Menon, Jyoti Singh, among others.

Palli was appointed as a Delhi High Court judge in 2017.

She began her practice as a lawyer in 1986 in the Punjab and Haryana Court. In 1991, she registered as an advocate on record with the Supreme Court. She also practiced in the Central Administrative Tribunal, Armed Forces Tribunal and National Company Law Tribunal.

During her practice as a lawyer, Palli has handled several matters of public importance. She was the standing counsel for the Delhi High Court, the Employees State Insurance Corporation and Air Force Schools.

Pallialso served as the senior panel counsel for the Centre in the Delhi High Court. In the Supreme Court, she represented several universities and municipal corporations.