A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed in the Madras High Court to declare as unconstitutional the Hindi and Sanskrit names given to the three new laws that have replaced the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act with effect from Monday, July 1.
The PIL petition is expected to be listed for admission before the first Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice R. Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq. Advocate B. Ramkumar Adityan of Thoothukudi had filed the case insisting that the three new laws should be renamed in English.
The petitioner also sought for an interim injunction restraining the Union Home Ministry from implementing the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023; and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, until the disposal of his plea to rename the laws in English.
He said, though there were 28 States and eight Union Territories in the country, Hindi was the official language only in nine States and two Union Territories. He also stated that Hindi was the mother tongue of only about 43.63% population in the country, with the rest speaking various other languages.
According to the 2011 census, only 3.93 lakh people in Tamil Nadu could speak Hindi, and yet, the Centre had chosen to name the three most important criminal laws of the country in Hindi and Sanskrit, he complained. He said it would create great difficulty to non-Hindi speakers in the country.
Further, stating that English was the official language of the Supreme Court as well as most High Courts, he said the use of a single language helped maintain efficiency, consistency, and accuracy in the judicial process. He added that naming criminal laws in Hindi and Sanskrit violated the rights of lawyers, law teachers, judicial officers, and litigants.
Published - July 01, 2024 08:26 pm IST
