Subordinate and lower court judgments must have at least a paragraph that contains the gist of the verdict in the local language, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said here on Sunday. He was speaking at an event organised by ‘Satta Kadir’, a monthly law journal in Tamil, to mark the Madras High Court’s sesquicentennial celebrations.
The journal’s editor and publisher brought out a book Neethimandrangalil Tamil, which argues the case for Tamil in HC as an a additional language. The book is a compilation of essays on the subject, written by many counsel. In his address after releasing the book, Khurshid said: “Long ago, population of India was seen as a problem. Today the problem has turned into a power. Similarly, languages in India were once seen as weakness; now they are perceived as strength. We must encourage our people to learn more than three or four languages. In the near future, India could be the translation hub in the world.”
“Lawyers and judges must enrich the knowledge of law with additional languages like Tamil through translating judicial literatures. While giving their judgment, judges must ensure that the judgment copy has at least a paragraph, which contains the gist of the verdict in the local language. This may not be easy to implement in the HCs, but can be done in the subordinate and lower courts,” he suggested.
After receiving the first copy of the book, S S Palanimanickam, Minister of State for Finance, said, “When people of Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are enjoying the right of having their local language as an additional court language, how can people of Tamil Nadu be denied that right? The denial knocks the bottom out of the claim that ‘everyone is equal before the eyes of law."
“When an advocate argues in English and a judge gives the verdict in English, how can a common man have hope in the judicial system?” wondered Dr Avvai Natarajan in his address. While felicitating the author, Nalini Chidambaram said, “English is a barrier to lawyers from rural areas. As for the subordinate and lower courts, Tamil can be used.”
Book author V R S Sampath said if a lawyer is not be allowed to argue in the local language, it would be a violation of human rights. Supreme Court judge S J Mukhopadhyay and former SC judge A R Lakshmanan were also present.
Language Commission
Speaking at another function here, organised to observe the birthday of ex-minister and MGR Kazhagam founder R M Veerappan, Justice Lakshmanan, also the Law Commission chairman, suggested that a language commission, comprising of experts in Tamil and English, be established in TN to promote the use of Tamil in the High Court.
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