Lok Sabha Question No. 303 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-03
Subject: Use of Regional Languages in High Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: P.R. Natarajan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 303

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 3 RD FEBRUARY, 2023

## USE OF REGIONAL LANGUAGES IN HIGH COURTS

## 303.   SHRI NATARAJAN  P. R. :

## Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- a) the details of High Courts in the country which are using regional languages in their proceedings, State-wise;
- b) whether the Government has received any requests /representations from different High Courts for the use of regional languages in their respective High Courts and if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon;
- c) whether the Government has held any meeting with the Bar Councils in various States to develop a mechanism to facilitate the people in court proceedings/cases; and
- d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) & (b): Article 348(1)(a) of the Constitution of India states that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court, shall be in English language. Clause (2) of the Article 348 of the Constitution states that notwithstanding anything in subclause (a) of clause (1), the Governor of a State may, with the previous consent of the

President, authorize the use of Hindi Language, or any other language used for any official purposes of the State, in proceedings in the High Court having its principal seat in that State.

The Cabinet Committee's decision dated 21.05.1965 has stipulated that consent of the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India be obtained on any proposal relating to use of a language other than English in the High Court.

The use of Hindi in the proceedings of High Court of Rajasthan was authorized under  clause  (2)  of  Article  348  of  the  constitution  in  1950.  After  the  Cabinet Committee's  decision  dated  21.05.1965  as  mentioned  above,  the  use  of  Hindi  was authorized in the High Courts of Uttar Pradesh (1969), Madhya Pradesh (1971) and Bihar (1972) in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

Government of India had  received  proposals  from  the  Government  of  Tamil Nadu,  Gujarat,  Chhattisgarh,  West  Bengal  and  Karnataka  to  permit  use  of  Tamil, Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali and Kannada in the proceedings of the Madras High Court, Gujarat  High  Court,  Chhattisgarh  High  Court,  Calcutta  High  Court  and  Karnataka High Court respectively. The  advice of  Chief  Justice  of  India  was  sought  on  these proposals  and  it  was  intimated  that  the  Full  Court  of  the  Supreme  Court  after  due deliberations, decided not to accept the proposals.

Based on another request from the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Government requested the Chief Justice of India to review the earlier decisions in this regard and convey the consent of the Supreme Court of India. The Chief Justice of India  conveyed  that  the  Full  Court,  after  extensive  deliberations  decided  not  to approve the proposal and reiterated the earlier decisions of the Hon'ble Court.

(c)& (d): Under the aegis of the  Ministry of  Law &  Justice,  the  Bar  Council  of India has  constituted  'Bharatiya  Bhasha Samiti'  chaired by  former  Chief  Justice of India,  Hon'ble  Mr.  Justice  S.A.  Bobde.    The  committee  is  developing  a  Common Core  Vocabulary  close  to  all  Indian  languages  for  the  purpose  of  translating  legal material into regional languages.

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