Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court has observed
that though majority of people in India have accepted Hindi as
a national language, there was nothing on record to suggest
that any provision has been made or order issued declaring
Hindi as a national language of the country.
The observation was made by a division bench of Chief
Justice S J Mukhopadhaya and justice A S Dave recently while
rejecting a Public Interest Litigation by Suresh Kachhadia.
Kachhadia had filed the PIL last year seeking direction
to Central and state government to make it mandatory for
manufacturers to print details of goods like price,
ingredients and date of manufacture in Hindi.
The court observed, "Normally, in India, majority of
the people have accepted Hindi as a national language and many
people speak Hindi and write in Devanagari script but there is
nothing on record to suggest that any provision has been made
or order issued declaring Hindi as a national language of
the country."
"No mandamus can be issued on any manufacturer or others
for giving details or particulars of package in Hindi in
Devanagari script," it further said.
It was contended by Kachhadia's lawyer that Hindi was
the national language and was understood by a large number of
people in the country.
Counsel representing central government submitted
that specific provision has been made under the Standard of
Weight and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules of 1977
that particulars of declaration should be in Hindi in
Devanagari script or in English.
The court said that the Constituent Assembly while
discussing the Language Formula noticed the recommendation of
the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights, which recommended the
formula as per which," Hindustani, written either in
Devanagari or the Persian script at the option of the citizen,
shall, as the national language, be the first official
language of the Union. English shall be the second official
language for such period as the Union may, by law, determine".
However, in the constitution, Hindi was declared as an
official language and not a national language.
The court in its order said Part XVII of the
Constitution deals with Official Language. Under Article 343,
official language of the Union has been prescribed, which
includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English.
PTI
First Published: Monday, January 25, 2010, 17:58