Supreme Court rejects plea on use of prefixes for women, says it's for publicity

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea which raised an issue that no women should be asked to put prefixes like 'Ms', 'Kumari', 'Mrs' before their names, saying it is all for publicity. A bench of Justices S K Kaul and A Amanullah observed that there cannot be a general order in this behalf as it depends upon the choice of a person to whether to use a prefix or not to use it.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner told the apex court that he wanted to file some additional documents in the matter. "What is this petition? What is the relief you are seeking?... This is all publicity," the bench said. The top court said it depends on a person whether to use the prefix or not.

"You say no women should be asked to put 'Ms', 'Kumari', 'Mrs'," the bench said, adding "if suppose somebody want to use it, how can you prevent that person from using it." "There cannot be a general order in this behalf as it depends upon the choice of a person to whether to use a prefix or not to use a prefix," the bench said while dismissing the plea.