The subordinate and lower courts must have at least one paragraph which contains the gist of the verdict in the local languages, said Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
In commemoration of the Madras High Court’s sesquicentennial celebrations Satta Kadir, a monthly law journal in Tamil, organised a book release and award function here on Sunday.
The journal’s editor and publisher have brought out a book Neethimandrangalil Tamil, which speaks about the place for Tamil in the high court as an additional court language. It is a compilation of essays written by many learned counsels.
The book was released by Khurshid, who was the chief guest at the function. In his address he said, “Gone are the days when the population of India was seen as problem. Today the problem has turned into a power. Similarly, the languages in India were once seen as weakness, which is now changed to strength. We must encourage our people to learn more than three or four languages. In the near future, India could be the translation hub of the world”.
“Lawyers and judges must enrich the knowledge of law with additional languages like Tamil through translating judicial literature. While giving the judgments, judges must ensure that the judgment copy must have at least a paragraph which contains the gist of the verdict in the local languages. The high courts may find it difficult to follow this, but it could be done in the sub-ordinate and lower courts,” he said.
Receiving the first copy of the book S S Palanimanickam, Minister of State for Finance, said, “When people of Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh are enjoying the right to have their local language as additional court language, if people of Tamil Nadu are denied that right then the saying ‘everyone is equal before the eyes of law’ will become demolished.”
“When an advocate argues in English and a judge gives the verdict in English, how can a common man have faith in the judicial system?” asked Dr Avvai Natarajan in his felicitation.
While felicitating the author, Nalini Chidambaram said, “English is a barrier to lawyers of rural areas. For subordinate and lower courts Tamil can be used. We cannot use Tamil in high courts since most of the Chief Justices are from other states.”
“If a lawyer is not allowed to argue in the local language then it will be a violation of human rights,” said V R S Sampath, who authored this book. Former Judge of the Supreme Court A R Lakshmanan and Supreme Court Judge S J Mukhopadhyay were also present.