Time To Integrate Regional Languages In Courts: CJI NV Ramana

Justice Ramana stated that the practice of law before Constitutional courts should be based on one's intelligence and understanding of the law, rather than mere proficiency in the language.

Chief Justice Of India NV Ramana. (Source: Getty Images)

New Delhi: In the midst of a discussion about Hindi and the country's linguistic diversity, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana remarked today that the time has come for the legal system to integrate indigenous languages in courts, news agency PTI reported.

Justice Ramana, speaking at the Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi as part of the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers of States and Chief Justices of High Courts, stated that the practice of law before Constitutional courts should be based on one's intelligence and understanding of the law, rather than mere proficiency in the language.

"The judiciary, as well as every other institution of our democracy, must mirror the social and geographical diversity of the country. I am receiving many representations for introducing local languages in proceedings before high courts," he was quoted by PTI in its report.

"I think the time has come now to revisit the demand and take it to a logical conclusion. The practice of law before Constitutional courts should be based on one's intelligence and understanding of the law and not mere proficiency in a language," he said.

Highlighting the hurdles in the implementation of local languages in High Courts, the Chief Justice of India said, "The reason is, sometimes some judges are not familiar with the local language, Chief Justice will be from outside," news agency ANI reported.

There are a lot of hurdles & bottlenecks in implementation of regional languages in HCs. The reason is, sometimes some judges are not familiar with the local language, Chief Justice will be from outside: Chief Justice of India NV Ramana pic.twitter.com/a8lvCM5ylK

— ANI (@ANI) April 30, 2022

Referring to the demand for implementing regional languages, especially in Tamil Nadu, he said, "It's a very serious issue. The problem is demand for the implementation of regional languages has been there, particularly now in Tamil Nadu...Earlier, a request came when I joined SC which was rejected by the full court of SC. Thereafter no proposal has come before SC."

Stating that this will require time, Ramana said, "Secondly, we don't have that much technology/systems where the entire record has to be translated to local language or local language to English. To some extent, Artificial Intelligence is a way out. We tried. To some extent, it has materialised."

CJI Appeal On Improving Judge-To-Population Ratio

Raising the issue of judicial vacancies, CJI Ramana urged the chief justices of high courts to improve the judge-to-population ratio so that it is comparable to advanced democracies, PTI reported.

According to CJI Ramana, there are 388 vacancies among the 1,104 sanctioned posts of high court judges as of today.

"From day one, it has been my endeavour to fill judicial vacancies. We made 180 recommendations for appointments in various high courts last year. Out of these, 126 appointments have been made. I thank the Government of India for clearing the names," he was quoted by PTI in its report.

"However, 50 proposals are still awaiting approval by the Government of India. The high courts have sent around 100 names to the Government of India. They are yet to reach us. The data reveals the earnest efforts being made by the judiciary to fill the vacancies," the CJI said.

Joint Conference

The Joint Conference brings together the executive and judicial branches of government to develop frameworks for delivering justice in a simple and convenient manner, as well as to examine the actions needed to address the system's challenges.

This joint conference is being conducted after a six-year hiatus, with the last one taking place in 2016. Under the e-Courts Mission Mode Project, the government since then has taken several measures to improve infrastructure and integrate digital technology into judicial procedures.

(With Agencies Inputs)