Veteran leader of Communist Party of India R. Nallakannu on Thursday urged the Central government to get Presidential assent for the unanimous resolution passed by Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2006 to make Tamil the official language in Madras High Court.
Inaugurating an indefinite fast observed by a group of nine people with the demand that Tamil be made the official language in the High Court immediately, Mr. Nallakannu said that the Central government was unnecessarily delaying the issue. “A parliamentary committee has clearly said that judicial consultation was not required for making languages of every State as the official language in the respective High Courts. Despite this, the Central government is refusing to act on it by citing Supreme Court’s refusal,” he said.
He pointed out that Rajasthan had made Hindi official language of its High Court decades back and States such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar had done the same subsequently. “However, the demand to do the same from States such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka and Gujarat is rejected by the Supreme Court,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The nine people observing the fast included six advocates and three activists. Though permission was initially denied by the police, advocate Bhagavath Singh, who is leading the team, subsequently approached the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, which granted permission for the protest.