TONGUE TWISTER

Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s decision to make Tamil the language of the high court has left the state’s legal community divided

By S S Jeevan

In no other state in India is language as much an emotive issue as it is in Tamil Nadu. In the 1960s, the state witnessed unprecedented riots opposing the imposition of Hindi as the national language by the Central government. Over the years, a number of theatrics involving language— including tax concessions for films with Tamil names—have taken place.

Now, the language politics in the state has taken a new turn. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s decision to introduce Tamil as the language of the high court in the state has sparked fresh controversy. Citing Article 348(2) of the Constitution, the state Assembly passed a resolution and quoted Section 7 of the Official Languages Act, 1963, which provides for all proceedings of the high court to be in the state’s official language. The move requires the consent of the President. “Let the Tamil lamp glow bright in the high court’s portals,” Karunanidhi said. But for the past four months, the attempt has been met with several roadblocks. And now even the Union Government is yet to respond to Karunanidhi’s plea.

The judiciary in the state was the first to react, as a large section of it raised a banner of revolt, with Chief Justice A.P. Shah writing to Karunanidhi, cautioning him that “the switchover to Tamil would not be fully effective for the purpose of delivering justice”. While many accepted the decision “in principle”, they also insisted that a comprehensive project would be needed to translate enactments and laws.

However, when the request was forwarded to the Centre for its approval, the Union Law Ministry politely turned it down. Karunanidhi immediately wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj, arguing that Tamil Nadu be treated on par with the northern states where the use of official language of the state is permitted in the high courts. “In Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, high courts have been authorised to conduct all proceedings in Hindi. Thus, in case of Tamil Nadu a different stand cannot be taken,” he said. Every state has the right to invoke the said provisions for the use of the official language in the high court, he contended.

Tamil Nadu among other states has the highest number of cases pending in the country. Till 2006, 4,43,656 civil and 4,13,153 criminal cases in subordinate courts were left to be looked upon along with 3,72,973 civil and 38,985 criminal cases in the high court. To expedite matters, however, the state Government has proposed to start 50 fast track courts in 2007-2008. It has asked the Centre to allocate funds in the current financial year to take up a Rs 213-crore project to construct court buildings for judicial officers.

Many experts have voiced concerns as to how the attempt to change the language of court can delay the judicial process. Moreover, the appointments of non-Tamil speaking judges to the high court may have its own problems. India follows the Anglo-Saxon system of jurisprudence, and translations from English to Tamil will take many years. However, it remains to be seen whether the Centre responds to Karunanidhi’s penchant for Tamil.

(India Today, April 30, 2007)