Language in Social Media
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Author: Sh. A.K. Srivastava
(Twitter account @aksrivastava232) is Senior Advocate in Supreme Court of India, New Delhi where he is practicing since last 40 yrs. He had been Advocate General of Govt. of Sikkim & was Hon.Secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association for two years( 1991-92,1992-93). He writes at http://ak-srivastava.blogspot.in & has agreed to post his articles here too.
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This is only a gossip and not a censor to any body or any thing. I just want to share my experience with friends as I have spent 40 years in the Profession of Law at the Apex Court level.
60% of the Judges at High Court level are made from the Bar and rest from the service. 
Therefore, all Judges have undergone the training at Bar. When we finish our cases in the Courts, we come to the Bar and spend some leisure time with colleagues freely without any restriction of language. The discussions range from cases to politics to Judges etc. At time indecent language is used by a few members but not by all. We heavily criticise the Judges who happen to be our colleague in the days of practice. Judges also know how they are criticised in the Bar because they have also been doing the same thing without exception. But when we go to the Court to argue our cases, we strictly maintain the decorum and use only such language which are employed in the Courts. We never use slang or use such language which offends either the Court or brother colleagues. The cases are conducted in most serene atmosphere. Any slip of language attracts spontaneous reprimand from the Court. That is because of serious training at the Bar.
In 1991-1993, I was Hony. Secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association. We used to have regular meetings with the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India on monthly basis to sort out mutual problems of Bar and Bench. In one of the meetings, Hon’ble Chief Justice Sri Rangnath Mishra indicated to us that the youngsters are coming to the Courts without proper training and use the language which is not befitting the decorum of the Courts.
In our Bar Association Rules, there was no restriction on experience in becoming the member of our Bar. We amended the Rules and incorporated 5 yrs. of practice for enrollment as a member of S.C.B.A. It had salutary effect.
In 1994, I was arguing a case before a bench of Justice K. Ramaswamy and Justice N. Venkatchala. The Court found that there was a flaw in the appointment of my client and thus his appointment was being annulled. That infuriated me under the apprehension that my client was going to loose his job as a lecturer after serving the college for 14 long years.
I was little enraged, I got excited, sweat started running on my face, my voice became little louder and tougher. I was just checked by the Court. Justice Venkatchala loudly told the senior Judge that Srivastava is completely enraged. Justice Ramaswamy told him clearly audible to everyone in the Court “Don’t worry brother, this is Srivatava’s style.” Every one burst into laughter. I also laughed and felt relieved of tensions which I was undergoing. Suffice to say that even a small deviation in mannerism was immediately checked.
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very much needed post. I fully endorse the views presented in this post. I also endorse the views of Yugvani’s Editor. Thank you Both for the valuable inputs.
I agree with Mr. Srivastava & Yugvani. Control of language is must for a good society. It is not jungle & it should not be made jungle