Lawyers from the Madras High Court staged a protest on Friday against the implementation of Hindi titles for three key criminal laws, replacing the English names of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Indian Evidence Act. Led by Mohanakrishnan, the president of the Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA), over 100 advocates gathered in front of the Madras High Court to voice their objections to what they perceive as “Hindi imposition” by the central government.The lawyers raised slogans against the BJP-led central government, expressing their vehement opposition to the renaming of the criminal laws with Hindi titles. They emphasized that they would not tolerate the use of Hindi names for these essential legal statutes, asserting that it undermines linguistic diversity and infringes upon the rights of non-Hindi speaking citizens.
The proposed replacement of the English titles with Hindi names includes renaming the Indian Penal Code as Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Code of Criminal Procedure as Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and the Indian Evidence Act as Bharatiya Sakshya Bill. This move by the Union government has sparked outrage among the legal community in Tamil Nadu, with lawyers decrying it as an attempt to impose Hindi language and culture on non-Hindi speaking regions.
The lawyers highlighted the significance of preserving linguistic diversity and ensuring equal representation for all languages in legal frameworks. They argued that the imposition of Hindi titles for criminal laws disregards the linguistic rights of Tamil speakers and undermines the cultural identity of Tamil Nadu.