Gajendragadkar: Courts must work in same language

Bangalore: R. B. Gajendragadkar, former Chief Justice of India, today reiterated that the Supreme Court and the high courts of India should function in the same language and, for many years to come, it had to be English.

He was participating in the Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata lecture series under the auspices of the Indian Institute of Science here.

Gajendragadkar devoted considerable time to explain Indian federalism and pointed out that ultimately it rested on four solid pillars — the Legislature, the Executive, the Judiciary and public opinion.

He pointed out that whereas the rest of Indian public life had recently witnessed a crisis of character, the judiciary by and large had not done anything to forfeit public confidence.

The former Chief Justice referred to the suggestion that the high courts should function in the regional languages and the Supreme Court in English and expressed his conviction that such a course would lead to unfortunate consequences.

It would retard the communication of ideas and disturb the uniformity established by judicial decisions.

Gajendragadkar said he would not be surprised if the South demanded the establishment of a Supreme Court functioning in English in Hyderabad.

“The introduction of political overtones has unfortunately complicated the problem of language and I earnestly appeal to the Union government not to complicate matters further.”

About Legislatures, he said that both at the Centre and in the states Legislatures should so function as to create a sense of purpose and confidence in the public mind as otherwise the public was likely to lose faith in democracy and in the utility and significance of parliamentary life itself.