Lawyers’ body challenges 1965 Union Cabinet decision on court language

The Madras High Court Advocates Association has filed a public interest litigation petition challenging a 1965 Union Cabinet Committee decision that kept English as the common language for the Supreme Court and all High Courts until it could be replaced with Hindi. Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan will hear the case. The association argued that banning regional languages in High Courts violates Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. Association secretary S. Arivazhagan stated that the group only discovered the 1965 decision last year through details obtained via the Right to Information Act.

Background

The 1965 decision followed a conference of Chief Justices chaired by then Chief Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar, which recommended keeping English until Hindi became rich enough. A Home Ministry note at the time warned that using regional languages would fragment the judicial system and hurt the all-India bar.

State Demands

The petition noted that the Centre rejected proposals from Tamil Nadu in 2006 and 2014 to use Tamil, while similar requests from West Bengal, Gujarat, and Karnataka were also turned down. Meanwhile, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar were previously allowed to use Hindi.

Context

Article 348(2) of the Constitution allows state Governors to authorize regional languages in High Court proceedings with the President's consent. Legal disputes over court languages often highlight the balance between local accessibility for litigants and a unified national legal system.