Stalin writes to PM on 3 demands. One is making Tamil official language of HC

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin wrote to prime minister Narendra Modi and chief justice NV Ramana on Thursday and made three demands. One was making Tamil the official language of the Madras High Court. Stalin cited the cases of the high courts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh – where Hindi has been authorised as the official language in addition to English.

“One therefore wonders, what is the impediment to make the official language of other states the official language of the High Court, in addition to English,” the Tamil Nadu CM wrote.

“Making law and justice comprehensible to the common man in its proceedings is essential in the justice delivery system,” he added.

Stalin’s letter comes days after the prime minister – at an event attended by the chief justice and union law minister Kiren Rijiju – spoke about the need to use local language in courtrooms across the country to ensure the ‘common man’ understood the judicial process.

“We need to encourage local languages in courts. This will increase the confidence of the common citizens of the country in the justice system, they will feel connected to it,” the prime minister said.

Staying on the theme of reforms in the judiciary, the Tamil Nadu CM also spoke about the importance of diversity in the appointment of judges to high courts and the Supreme Court.

“For the past few years, we have been witnessing declining representation from all the sections of the society in the higher judiciary, leading to a ‘diversity deficit’,” he said, noting, “Judicial diversity is fundamental to the quality of judging.”

“A broad-based, heterogeneous group of judges representing various sections of society as a whole, particularly on issues involving historical, traditional, linguistic and cultural matters. This is because they would provide wider perspectives, since the group of judges would naturally interpret and enforce law based on their multi various backgrounds,” Stalin said.

The third issue Stalin addressed was the setting up of permanent regional benches of the Supreme Court – a long-standing demand by some. Citing Article 32 of the Constitution – which says all citizens, rich and poor, must have direct access to the nation’s top court – Stalin said the ‘privilege has been eroded over economic constraints’.

He also spoke about geographical constraints for states located far from Delhi – a reference to southern states – during the need to approach the Supreme Court. He said many people in such states were deprived of their right to approach the Supreme Court.