Why Is Hindi As An Official Language In English
In a PIL filed by Shiv Sagar Tiwari, a lawyer who claimed that using English as an official language in higher judiciary was “a legacy of the British rule” which should be scrapped. The Department of Official Language in the Ministry of Home affairs filed its affidavit in response shooting down the idea of amending the Constitution to make Hindi the official language for conducting court in higher judiciary, and relied upon a report by the law commission in this regard. Now the Issue that arises is that whether it is practical to use any other language as means to conduct business in higher judiciary. In a country which houses 780 language out of which 122 are officially recognised and another 100 are suspected to exist, Is Hindi the ideal
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It was rightfully held in the 216th report of the Law Commission that introduction of Hindi as a compulsory language in the Supreme Court and the high courts was not feasible and added “no language should be thrust on any section of the people against their will since it is likely to become counterproductive”.
The law commission further held that the use of language was not merely as a vehicle of thoughts for the judges but also formed an integral part of their decision making process and thus should be left free to evolve their own preferred language for delivering judgements.
Another recommendation made by the PIL was that the 24 high courts should conduct their court in the regional language of their respective judicial territory. This advice lacked merit Firstly because the Judges of the High court are frequently transferred from one part of the country to another, and it would be extremely difficult for the judges to discharge their duties efficiently if they were asked to deliver the judgement in a particular language which the judge may or may not be familiar to, it is Highly impractical to think that the judge would know 24 different …show more content…
It has to be understood that there is no harm in carrying forward a British legacy if it helps in the smooth functioning of the Indian Judiciary and secondly while Article 343 of the constitution of India states that Hindi should be the language of business in the government it does not state that the same should apply to the Supreme court and the other High courts Article 348 clearly states that the official language would be English as far as higher judiciary is
It was rightfully held in the 216th report of the Law Commission that introduction of Hindi as a compulsory language in the Supreme Court and the high courts was not feasible and added “no language should be thrust on any section of the people against their will since it is likely to become counterproductive”.
The law commission further held that the use of language was not merely as a vehicle of thoughts for the judges but also formed an integral part of their decision making process and thus should be left free to evolve their own preferred language for delivering judgements.
Another recommendation made by the PIL was that the 24 high courts should conduct their court in the regional language of their respective judicial territory. This advice lacked merit Firstly because the Judges of the High court are frequently transferred from one part of the country to another, and it would be extremely difficult for the judges to discharge their duties efficiently if they were asked to deliver the judgement in a particular language which the judge may or may not be familiar to, it is Highly impractical to think that the judge would know 24 different …show more content…
It has to be understood that there is no harm in carrying forward a British legacy if it helps in the smooth functioning of the Indian Judiciary and secondly while Article 343 of the constitution of India states that Hindi should be the language of business in the government it does not state that the same should apply to the Supreme court and the other High courts Article 348 clearly states that the official language would be English as far as higher judiciary is