A Patna High Court judge on Friday took a senior IAS officer to task as he was not dressed appropriately for appearing in court.

The officer cut a sorry figure as he fumbled with the excuse that he was unaware of any dress code to be followed in courts. The judge admonished him by asking whether he hadn't attended the civil service training institute in Mussoorie.

The incident took place in the court of Justice PB Bajanthri while the IAS officer involved is Anand Kishor, Principal Secretary for Housing and Urban Development in the Bihar government.

The judge took strong exception to Mr Kishor’s casual attire and remarked,  "Do you think this is a cinema hall?"

"You don't know in what dress code you have to appear in the court?"

"At least meaning coat, and collar shouldn't be open," the angry judge pointed out.

Caught off guard, Mr Kishor appeared at a complete loss of words and kept looking at his lawyers for a possible way out of the predicament.