The use of Hindi was authorised in the High Court of Rajasthan on February 14, 1950. After that Hindi was authorised in the High Courts of UP, MP and Bihar in the years 1970, 1971 and 1972 respectively. Therefore, no Indian language can be used in any of the remaining twenty High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. In the year 2002 the government (Governor) of Chhattisgarh asked for the consent of the Central government (President ) to authorise the use of Hindi in its High Court. Similarly in the years 2010 and 2012 the governments of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat asked for the consent of the President to authorise the use of Tamil and Gujarati in their High Courts. (It is worth-mentioning here that the present Prime Minister of India used to be the Chief Minister of Gujarat at that time.) But the Central government declined the consent in all these three cases. This is not only the undemocratic and anti-people attitude of the central government, it is also an attack on the federal structure of the Constitution. In a conference of the judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the High Courts and the Chief Ministers of the states on April 5, 2015 the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu repeated the demand of the Tamil Nadu government to permit the use of Tamil in the Madras High Court. He appealed to the Central Government to reconsider its stand in this regard and fulfill the old aspiration and demand of the state of Tamil Nadu by permitting the use of Tamil in the Madras High Court. The Chief Minister said that if we want to take the administration of justice near to the people in reality then it is absolutely essential to use the local languages in the High Courts. I don't know which other state governments asked for such consent prior to the year 2002. But there is no such provision in the Constitution that the President or any other authority can authorise the use of one or more Indian languages in the Supreme Court. So the obvious way, to authorise the use of one or more Indian languages in the Supreme Court and to provide the status of at least one Indian Language in each High Court equal to that of English, is to amend article 348 of the Indian Constitution. After the amendment the clause (1) of article 348 of the Indian Constitution should state, “all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court shall be in at least any one Indian language in addition to the English language.” Under this amended provision one should be able to use at least Tamil besides English in the Madras High Court, at least Kannada besides English in the Karnataka High Court, at least Hindi besides English in the High Courts of Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and similarly at least the official language of that state besides English in any other High Court of India and at least Hindi besides English in the Supreme Court of India. A noteworthy thing here is that in the Parliament the MPs are allowed to speak in all the 22 Indian languages in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution besides in English. The audience has the option to hear the speech either in the original Indian language or its instant translation either in Hindi or in English. It is desirable that people are allowed to seek justice in more than one Indian language in every High Court and the Supreme Court under this provision of translation but prohibiting the use of even any one Indian laguage in these courts is the clear example of the motive of the ruling elites to exploit the masses.
It is the right of every citizen to speak on his or her own regarding his or her case in the court irrespective of whether he or she has hired any lawyer or not. But according to the existing provision of article 348 of the Constitution ninety-seven percent (97%) of the Indians, incapable of speaking in English, are being deprived of this right in the Supreme Court and the twenty High Courts of India. Any one of these 97% Indians will be forced to hire an English knowing lawyer if he or she files any case in these courts or if somebody files any case against him or her in these courts, whereas it is the right of every individual to fight his or her case without hiring any lawyer. Even if somebody hires any lawyer he or she is not able to understand whether the lawyer is presenting the important points about his or her case or not.
If the people residing in Rajasthan, UP, MP and Bihar have the right to use Indian language in their High Courts, why shouldn’t the people residing in other states have the same right? Is it not a discrimination against them? Is it not a violation of the fundamental rights of “Equality before law” under article 14 and “Prohibition of discrimination on the ground of place of birth” under article 15 of the Constitution? And on this basis hasn’t the Central government insulted the Constitution and acted against the interest of the people of the country by rejecting the demands of the government of Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat? To say that the use of Indian language will be allowed only in the High Courts of Hindi speaking states (Rajasthan, UP, MP and Bihar) is clearly an unjust and discriminatory treatment to the non-Hindi belt people.
Author: Shyam Rudra Pathak
It is the right of every citizen to speak on his or her own regarding his or her case in the court irrespective of whether he or she has hired any lawyer or not. But according to the existing provision of article 348 of the Constitution ninety-seven percent (97%) of the Indians, incapable of speaking in English, are being deprived of this right in the Supreme Court and the twenty High Courts of India. Any one of these 97% Indians will be forced to hire an English knowing lawyer if he or she files any case in these courts or if somebody files any case against him or her in these courts, whereas it is the right of every individual to fight his or her case without hiring any lawyer. Even if somebody hires any lawyer he or she is not able to understand whether the lawyer is presenting the important points about his or her case or not.
If the people residing in Rajasthan, UP, MP and Bihar have the right to use Indian language in their High Courts, why shouldn’t the people residing in other states have the same right? Is it not a discrimination against them? Is it not a violation of the fundamental rights of “Equality before law” under article 14 and “Prohibition of discrimination on the ground of place of birth” under article 15 of the Constitution? And on this basis hasn’t the Central government insulted the Constitution and acted against the interest of the people of the country by rejecting the demands of the government of Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat? To say that the use of Indian language will be allowed only in the High Courts of Hindi speaking states (Rajasthan, UP, MP and Bihar) is clearly an unjust and discriminatory treatment to the non-Hindi belt people.
Author: Shyam Rudra Pathak
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