Lawyers Association of Madurai District Court (LAMDC) has filed a public interest litigation petition before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday seeking direction to the Centre to place a proposal letter of the State government before the President to obtain consent for usage of Tamil in the proceedings of the High Court.
LAMDC secretary advocate S. Ilango said the consent should be obtained for the use of Tamil, the official language of the State, in court proceedings as stipulated under Article 348 (2) of the Constitution. He said that Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar had obtained the consent to use the official State language in court proceedings.
In a proper democratic system, it must ensure the fullest participation of the vast majority of people in all affairs of the State, including judiciary. If the proceedings in the highest court of the State were conducted in a foreign / colonial language which could not be understood by the litigants, it was impossible to ensure fullest participation and transparency, he said.
He said that the State government had made a proposal for the use of Tamil in court proceedings in Tamil Nadu. The proposal letter should be placed by the Centre before the President for obtaining consent, the petitioner said in his PIL petition.
A Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and S. Ananthi sought the response from the Centre and the State in the case.
