India, July 1 -- A recent order of the Allahabad High Court, arising from a criminal writ petition, ventured into an unexpected question: Who is "entitled" to be addressed as "Honourable"? The issue before the court was minor. A complaint in an FIR had referred to a Member of Parliament without the honorific style of address. Hearing this narrow procedural issue, the court declared that this particular style of address must be used for ministers, judges, and other "similar functionaries".

At a cursory level, this may appear a matter of - or in this particular instance, a matter of failing to extend , whether inadvertent or deliberate. Consider it at length, and the matter raises a deeper constitutional question: What place do honorific t...