Use of Hindi emphasised in district courts

Aimed at endorsing Hindi as another official language besides English as per the the Official Language Act, the district judge has been issuing several notes in recent times.

Notably, she had recently received a communication from the Official Language Department, complaining that responses to various applicants were being set out invariably in English even though the answers were sought in Hindi.

"All district judges must ensure that there is no relaxation in the execution of the said order," the judge said adding if judicial officers faced problems in implementing the directive, they could contact the Hindi Implementation Centre, for seeking help in the use of the language in courts.

Issuing a circular in this regard, the judge made it clear to subordinate judges that they must gauge court employees' proficiency in Hindi.

Intra-departmental communication among the staffers and the officers should be made in Hindi, the circular said.

With complaints from the department that Hindi is being ignored, the official language workshops too were organised in all court complexes in recent past to promote use of Hindi.

A senior court staff said, "The issue, however, is not that simple for court official as very few judges and lawyers prefer Hindi in their work and not many stenographers are conversant with the language."

"The concept is wonderful but its implementation would require a comprehensive effort by not only the staff but also the judges, lawyers and administrative officers, who could provide the necessary infrastructure like software for Hindi for all the computers," a senior court official said.