The Allahabad High Court has clarified the official use of honorifics such as “Hon’ble” and “Mr”, stating that only constitutional functionaries and certain elected representatives are entitled to such formal address in official communication.
The observation came during proceedings related to an FIR in which former Union Minister and BJP MP Anurag Thakur’s name was mentioned without prefixes like “Hon’ble” or “Mr”. The Court had earlier questioned the Uttar Pradesh Police over the omission and sought an explanation from the state government.
A division bench of Justices JJ Munir and Tarun Saxena noted that ministers of the Central and State governments, judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, Speakers and Chairpersons of Parliament, along with Members of Parliament and State Legislatures, are entitled to the use of official honorifics.
The Court further clarified that such titles are linked to constitutional or sovereign public offices and cannot be casually extended to every government official. It observed that civil servants, regardless of rank, are not automatically entitled to prefixes like “Hon’ble” unless protocol specifically permits it.
During the hearing, the state government informed the Court that the FIR had reproduced the complaint exactly as submitted by the complainant in Hindi, without alterations. Authorities also stated that police officials were later instructed to follow protocol concerning the use of honorifics for MPs and former Union ministers.
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