SC chides Goa, Arunachal chief secretaries for inappropriate clothing

Guwahati, October 29, 2018:

Two AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories) cadre IAS officers – chief secretaries of Arunachal Pradesh and Goa – have been reprimanded by the Supreme Court for not appearing in formal clothing before it.

The duo – Arunachal chief secretary Satya Gopal and Goa chief secretary Dharmendra Sharma -- was summoned to explain on why retired judges and chief justices of high courts were not being given healthcare facilities at par with sitting HC judges.

They were dressed in shirts and trousers with a half jacket on. The Arunachal chief secretary was the first to be upbraided. He was wearing a bright yellow jacket. The chief secretary of Goa was dressed in a similar way.

A bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph, asked Gopal: “How he is dressed? There are certain decorums on how one should dress as the head of bureaucracy in the state while making appearance before the highest court which must be maintained.”

The bench also rebuked Sharma saying, as he is also from AGMUT cadre; he is in the same boat. If they do not come to court properly dressed, the bench will not hear them, the court said.