India, Nov. 18 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition calling for a ban on non-biodegradable lawyer bands, with Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai remarking that such minute matters fell far outside the court's remit. If the top court began entertaining such requests, the CJI said, it might soon be asked to regulate even the use of "handkerchiefs".

The plea was filed by Sakshi Vijay, who introduced herself as the wife of a lawyer and said that during her Diwali cleaning she stumbled upon a stash of discarded lawyer bands at home - all, she claimed, made of non-biodegradable material. Disturbed by the revelations lurking in her festive house cleaning, she urged the court to step in and regulate these cloth accessories on...