Black gowns not mandatory for judges, lawyers

Due to the ongoing heat wave across the country, lawyers and judges of lower courts are now not required to wear black coats and gowns in courts.

The decision came after Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique held a meeting with other Supreme Court senior judges yesterday, said a notification in this regard.

According to the directive, male judges and lawyers in all courts of the country can wear white neck bands and black ties with white full shirts. Women lawyers can wear white sarees or salwar-kameez.

The directive will come into effect from today and will continue till further notice, it said.

The decision was taken on the request of various bar associations of the country due to the ongoing heat wave across the country, the notification said.

Earlier, lawyers placed the request to the bar council to make wearing black coats optional during summer considering various health risks due to the intense heat.

They made the appeal after lawyer Shafiul Alam, a member of the Dhaka Bar Association, died on May 11.

Witnesses said Shafiul was heading back to the chamber after a court hearing in the afternoon when he suddenly collapsed in front of the Metropolitan Bar Association. He was declared dead at Dhaka National Hospital, according to media reports.  

The lawyers claimed that he died from a heat stroke.