Local Language in the Constitutional Court

Vibhanshu Jain **

In this competitive era , the legal activists , professionals and the parties of a particular case wants that their concerns and queries need to be communicated and conveyed by effective ideas and expression before the court of law in language that fulfills the duality of communication and understanding. To convey this , the judicial activists and governmental bodies thought that the best way is through implementing local languages for proceedings in the constitutional courts. In such way people of the country feel connected with the judicial process and thus faith in the same increases , and it is also in accordance with the Motto of Supreme Court Legal Service Committee (SSCLSC): “Access to justice for all”

Recently , in the 39^th Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices Honorable Prime Minister said and pointed out that “the proceedings of Supreme Court and High Courts in our country are conducted in English as official language , for a large number of section of the population it is difficult to understand the judicial proceedings and the judgments. We need to promote local language in courts as it will enhance the people’s faith in the judicial system”. Union minister Kiran Rijiju also pointed that to implement the collective commitment of promoting the local language in court is needed.

The use of local language in the Proceedings, Judgments, Decree, Order, etc. Sands to use of Indian own language by the Highest Judicial Body which can depict the Indian emotions and values of Indian language towards the litigants i.e. citizen of India can please, proceed and submit their respective case in their own language so , that they feel connected. The Constitution also give right to every person to submit a representation for the redress of any grievance to any office in any language of the Union or a State in any of the languages used in the Union or in the State as the case may be under Article 350. In every judgement either for their case or for temptation of judicial proceedings they need to contact the Lawyer so that he/she may translate such so they can understand which is hassle for the middle and poorer section of Indian Society. The Article 350 reads as:

Article 350. Language to be used in representations for redress of grievances- Every person shall be entitled to submit a representation for the redress of any grievance to any officer or authority of the Union or a State in any of the languages used in the Union or in the State, as the case may be.

The demand and use of linguistic language in the courts are not new they are practiced throughout history. The language in the courts of India has been seen as a transition over History with the shift from Urdu to Persian and Farsi script during the Mughal period. The British introduced a codified system of law in India, with English as an official language. After independence with the help of Article 343 planned to be eliminated after 15 years but The Official Language Act 1963 by the Parliament which even today permits the use of English in every Official work.

India is a vast country with several Cultural, Ethic groups and Religions living in one country with different Faiths and also with several different languages as some of them is been recognized and has been placed in the 8^th Schedule of the Constitution which counts 22 aside these there are other minority linguistic languages present in the urban outskirts of India. To provide justice the District and Local Courts has been follow the language appointed by the State Government as the power assigned under Section 272 of Code of Criminal Procedure which is helpful and just , the general language used in these courts are the local general languages but in the Apex Court’s of state and the Country uses only English as official language which is assigned by the constitution under Article 358(1) unless the Parliament provides otherwise by law.

Also mentioned in Chapter-1, Section 2 of Supreme Court of India Handbook on Practice and Procedure and Office Procedure, framed under Article 145 “The language to be used in the court , shall be in English, as per Article 348 of the Constitution read with Order 8 of the Rules”.

It is also been made compulsory for Lawyers to study and be proficient in English as mentioned in the Bar Council of India Rules of Legal Education 2008. To fulfill the demand of the majority pleading for demanding the judgement in their linguistic local language , the Supreme Court in 2019 started to produce the judgement, decree and orders in five Vernacular languages “Hindi, Telugu, Assamese, Kannada, and Odia” according to the statistics of the appeal demanding the such , with the help of in – house, electronic software wing for uploading the translated judgments becomes first Apex Court to chose five multiple language for delivering verdict.)

Criticism To Promotion Of Local Language in The Constitutional Courts

The 18^th Law Commission of India in its 216^th Report said “non-feasibility of introduction of Hindi as compulsory language in the Supreme Court of India.” India is a country with a mélange of cultures, time and again call for weeding out English from our legal system has been raised. However, English is so deeply embedded in our system that the idea to gradually do away with it would appear to be more of an illusion. No doubt, every litigant in the country is entitled to understand the court language to comprehend the court proceedings, however, the disadvantages that we are likely to face on eliminating the English language are as follows:

1. The entire education system would need an overhaul, right from the primary level to professional courses. Interestingly, the Bar Council Rules of Legal Education in India, 2008 as well as the Draft Rules of 2019 provide English as the medium of imparting legal education in India.
2. Most of laws, statutes, and judgments are in English. First, the translation will have to be exhaustive and accurate. Secondly, the divergence between different versions in different languages would lead to ambiguous interpretations of legal provisions. In such cases, multilingualism would become a part of the problem instead of the solution.
3. A variety of court languages will result in delays in decisions of cases. As per Article 222 of the Constitution of India, the judges are transferred from one court to another inter-State and thus may not be well conversant with the local language. In such a situation more time will be consumed in hearing of the cases due to translations, interpretation and trying to understand the local language.
4. Various legal maxims are in Latin and may have no corresponding terms in Indian languages. Local languages are further devoid of legal terminology and limited written materials such as dictionaries, and glossaries are available.
5. The language in which communications between different states, or between the Union Government and a State or a person takes place is usually English.
6. Change of court language to local language would hamper the practice of the lawyers as most lawyers are trained to work and argue in English. Moreover, clients who may not be conversant with the local dialect would hesitate to trust the lawyers. Further, the lawyers who are not well conversant with the local languages of other states will be confined to their local courts and state only.
7. A multilingual legal system is likely to increase the cost of litigation merely due to the sheer volume of the translation work involved, besides other difficulties.
8. Still, further, the nature of economic and industrial development taking place in India with the aid of foreign investment, promoting local languages and phasing out English in Courts would again have a discouraging effect on investors. Due to international agreements, Courts are required to consider and interpret International laws which are predominantly in English.

Conclusion

The conclusion derived from the collective reading of Article 348 of the Constitution and the Official Language Act, 1963, is that English continues to remain the actual official language concerning the Acts of Parliament and the Courts. The technology and techniques are not modern or advanced enough to provide the same with efficiency and speedily. The implementation of local languages in the Constitutional Courts would only result in a burdensome and slow judicial process.

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**The author is pursuing his BA LLB from Chaudhary Charan Singh University Meerut

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