The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution moved by the state’s Chief Minister (CM) C Joseph Vijay, pleading with the Union Government to take steps to recognise Tamil as the principal language of the Madras High Court (HC). 

Moving the resolution, CM Vijay underlined that the demand was not directed against any language, but was rooted in Tamil Nadu’s linguistic and cultural identity. 

CM Vijay says this

CM Vijay said on the resolution, “The Constitution of India, while upholding the federal principle and recognising the multilingual and multicultural character of India, provides various legal avenues for the States to use their respective official languages.”

He further said, “The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously urges the Union Government to take immediate and necessary action to facilitate the use of Tamil as the principal language of the High Court of Madras.” 

Numerous party lines chipped in to support the resolution, and legislators recalled the long history of the demand and efforts by successive political leaders to promote the use of Tamil in the HC. MLAs from several major parties, including the DMK, backed the proposal. 

Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar then announced that the resolution had been adopted unanimously. 

‘Rename Madras HC as Tamil Nadu HC’

Former Minister of the AIADMK, C Ve Shanmugam, went a step further, calling for demands to rename the Madras HC as Tamil Nadu HC. DMK leader EV Velu also echoed similar sentiments. 

Shanmugam alleged that a ‘north-south’ divide had emerged over the issue. He pointed out that states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh had been given the nod to use Hindi in their respective HC’s, while the request for Tamil had been rejected. 

DMK’s S Regupathy recalled the efforts of late party patriarch M Karunanidhi to introduce Tamil as a language of the HC. He asserted that resolutions had been passed twice during the DMK tenure, seeking permission for the use of Tamil in the court. However, Law Minister R Nirmal Kumar said Thursday’s resolution was the first to specifically seek principal-language status for Tamil. 

Regupathy, meanwhile, reiterated that DMK-led governments had consistently supported the use of Tamil in the HC. 

What’s mentioned in the Constitution?

The resolution passed by the state highlights Tamil’s status as a classical language, its extensive grammatical and literary heritage and the development of legal vocabulary in the language. Moreover, it cited the availability of technology-enabled translation facilities. 

It demanded a framework under which all verdicts, decrees and judicial orders delivered by the HC could be made available in Tamil. 

Under Article 348(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, proceedings in the SC and the High Courts are to be conducted in English. However, the Governor of a state may, with the prior consent of the President, authorise the use of Hindi or another language used for official purposes of the state in proceedings before the HC located in that state. 

A decision finalised by the Cabinet Committee dated May 21, 1965, also stipulated that the consent of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) must be obtained for any proposal seeking to introduce a language other than English in a HC.