New Delhi: Citing the Official Languages Act and the constitution, the Madras high court has directed the Union government to reply only in English to a representation made in the said language, saying the government is duty-bound to do so.
Justices N. Kirubakaran and M. Duraisamy, responding to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Madurai CPI (Marxist) MP Su. Venkatesan said that the constitution gives every person the right to give representation in any language used in the Union or the state.
The Official Languages Act also says the same, the judges said on Thursday, according to news agency PTI.
“It is the duty of the Union government to reply in English if the representation was given in that language,” the bench said.
According to the Times of India, the judges observed that this is an era of communication and information. “A few languages in the country are thousands of years old and many are 100 years old. The governments should take steps for preservation and development of all languages,” they said.
The judges observed that the importance of languages is highlighted by the linguistic reorganisation of states. The high court referred to Article 350 of the constitution, which says that for representations seeking redressal of greivances, an individual is “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”.
In his plea, the MP had sought a direction to the Centre that it should use only English language in all communication between the Union government and the Tamil Nadu government. He had earlier received a reply in Hindi from the Union home ministry in response to a query regarding setting up of examination centres for CRPF recruitment in Tamil Nadu.
In a tweet, Venkatesan said the court had directed that if elected representatives write to the Union government in English, the reply should be in the same language.