Pune court bars female lawyers from 'arranging' hair in courtroom, withdraws diktat

Pune, Oct 24 In a bizarre development, the Pune district court last week put up a notice barring women from "arranging" their hair in the open courts as it "disturbed" the court's functioning.

Coming during the ongoing court vacations, the October 20 notice - which drew a rage of protests on the social media - was quietly withdrawn after a couple of days.

The Registrar's notice, issued "

Pune criminal lawyer Vijayalaxmi Khopade wondered what is the whole point of such a notice and said women may be forced to quickly "arrange" their hair if it is falling on their face and it is not a "disturbing act" by any standards.

The order drew a spate of comments and protests on the social media including by senior counsel Indira Jaising who said: "Wow now look! Who is distracted by women advocates and why."

Author Mini Nair asked: "Wonder when they will ask us to cease existing???", and another Twitteratti wondered whether should they (women) all go bald?

Celeb photographer Atul Kasbekar said: "LoLa Men getting distracted to this extent by a woman's mane is fascinating."

Khalida Parveen's comment was: "Seriously, it's a joke.. Usually men fix their hair. Even they carry a small comb in their pockets."