Chennai, Sept 3:
The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Union government to recognise Tamil as the principal language of the Madras High Court and take immediate steps to facilitate its use in court proceedings.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, who moved the resolution, said technological advances, including artificial intelligence-enabled translation, had created a favourable environment for reconsidering the long-pending demand.
Vijay pointed out that Tamil is the official language of Tamil Nadu under the Tamil Nadu Official Language Act, 1956. Sections 4-A and 4-B of the Act provide for recording evidence in Tamil and issuing judgments, decrees and orders in Tamil in civil and criminal courts, tribunals, rent courts and revenue courts functioning under the High Court.
He also referred to Article 348(2) of the Constitution, which provides for the use of a State’s official language in High Court proceedings with the previous consent of the President. Section 7 of the Official Languages Act, 1963, similarly provides for the use of a State’s official language, in addition to English, in High Court judgments, decrees and orders, subject to the prescribed authorisation.
The Chief Minister recalled that the Tamil Nadu Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on December 6, 2006, seeking the use of Tamil in the Madras High Court, and forwarded it to the Centre.
In a reply in the Rajya Sabha in February 2018, the Union Law Ministry had stated that the proposal was referred to the Chief Justice of India. The Supreme Court’s Full Court, after deliberations in October 2012, had decided not to accept the proposal.
Vijay said circumstances had changed significantly since then, with major advances in legal Tamil, translation systems, e-Courts, legal databases and technology-enabled translation.
He particularly highlighted developments in artificial intelligence, saying speech in Tamil could now be simultaneously rendered and heard in English. Such technological progress, he argued, warranted reconsideration of the earlier decision.
The resolution urges the Union government to recognise Tamil as the principal language of the Madras High Court and establish appropriate procedures for petitions, documents and arguments to be filed or presented in Tamil.
It also calls for a framework under which all judgments, decrees and judicial orders of the High Court are made available in Tamil.
In addition, the State has sought training in legal Tamil and translation for judges, advocates and court personnel, and urged the Centre to take all necessary legal measures based on proposals to be forwarded by the Governor under Article 348(2) and Section 7 of the Official Languages Act.
Moving the resolution, Vijay emphasised Tamil’s antiquity and continuous literary and grammatical heritage. He noted that Tamil is spoken by around nine crore people worldwide and about eight crore people in India.
He also recalled that the Union government recognised Tamil as a Classical Language on October 12, 2004, in recognition of its antiquity, continuous literary tradition, inscriptions and historical evidence.
After a lengthy debate in which members of various political parties participated, Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar put the resolution to a voice vote. The House adopted it unanimously, renewing Tamil Nadu’s long-standing demand for Tamil to be used as the principal language of the Madras High Court.