The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has ruled that female advocates are not permitted to wear facial coverings when they appear in court. While making the observations in the ruling dated December 13, Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi referred to the Bar Council of India (BCI)'s regulations.

The order follows an incident that occurred on November 27, when a woman, who introduced herself as an advocate named Syed Ainain Qadri, refused to take off her veil when Justice Rahul Bharti, who was presiding over the case, asked her to do so. The woman argued that it was her right to appear with her face covered and that the court could not force her to remove the veil. After this, Justice Bharti rejected her participation as counsel, stating that the court could not verify her identification. 

The bench also cautioned the petitioners the lady allegedly represented that failure to secure appropriate representation could result in the dismissal of their case. The court adjourned the case to a later date and asked the Registrar General to provide a report on the dress code rules for lady advocates. The Registrar submitted the report on December 5. Following the review of the Registrar's report, the court determined that no such entitlement is mentioned in the Bar Council of India's rules.

Nevertheless, the court did not proceed further with the matter since the lawyer decided not to appear again. Later, another lawyer took over to represent the petitioners, and Justice Kazmi heard the case before reserving the judgment on December 6. The court dismissed the petition on December 13, stating that there was another solution available.