Supreme Court refuses to interfere in Haryana government's decision to make court official language Hindi

New Delhi, Monday 8 June 2020

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to intervene in the Haryana government's decision to introduce Hindi as the official language in all state courts and tribunals.

Some lawyers had approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Haryana Official Languages ​​(Amendment) Act 2020. This amendment makes Hindi the official language in state courts and tribunals.

Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices A.S. A bench of Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy asked the petitioners what was wrong with the law when about 80 per cent of the plaintiffs did not understand the English language properly.

"There is nothing wrong with the language of the lower courts of some states being Hindi," the bench said. Even under British rule, the recording of evidence was done in the local language.

Petitioner Sameer Jain said that the court proceedings are not against whether it is in Hindi or any other language. Multinational companies will have difficulty in arguing their cases in Hindi.

The bench said that the law under consideration does not prohibit the use of English language. The bench said that English language can also be used in court proceedings with the permission of the court if the need arises.