Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2018 October 6

Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

October 6

Languages in Indian courts

Here's part of the "State judiciary" section of Languages with official status in India:

States have significantly less freedom in relation to determine the language in which judicial proceedings in their respective High Courts will be conducted. The constitution gives the power to authorise the use of Hindi, or the state's official language in proceedings of the High Court to the Governor, rather than the state legislature, and requires the Governor to obtain the consent of the President of India, who in these matters acts on the advice of the Government of India. The Official Languages Act gives the Governor a similar power, subject to similar conditions, in relation to the language in which the High Court's judgments will be delivered. Four states—Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan— have been granted the right to conduct proceedings in their High Courts in their official language, which, for all of them, was Hindi. However, the only non-Hindi state...

It sounds like these four states said basically "Instead of using Hindi, we'd like to use Hindi." Is that really what this is saying, and if so, what's the point? Or have I misunderstood something? Nyttend (talk) 13:00, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

I'm fairly sure that what it's actually saying is that the states are saying instead of using English, we'd like to use Hindi. See also the first paragraph in Languages with official status in India#Judiciary. Without obtaining authorisation, the states default to English in their High Courts. They are able to use Hindi or the state's official language, but only if they get the necessary permissions etc. In those four cases they asked for permission to use their official languages which are Hindi although I'm not sure if the process is structured that it's actually clear which one they are requesting. Nil Einne (talk) 14:29, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

[1] says something similar. Maybe Judiciary of India and List of high courts in India will also be of interest to those unfamiliar with how things are in India. Note that the organisations of courts is somewhat different from the clearly delineated separate state level and federal (or central/union) level entities as in the US. Nil Einne (talk) 14:43, 6 October 2018 (UTC)

And your findings are reinforced by the article's "Judiciary" section. My apology for misunderstanding; somehow I'd misread something to indicate that Hindi was the default language of the courts. Nyttend (talk) 21:17, 6 October 2018 (UTC)