9,423 SC verdicts translated into regional languages, says CJI in his Independence Day speech

The highest number of judgments, 8,977, have been translated to Hindi followed by Tamil at 128. Gujarati cornered the third spot at 86 while Malayalam and Odia share the fourth spot at 50 each

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice DY Chandrachud at the Red Fort on the occasion of the 77th Independence Day, in New Delhi, on August 15, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on August 15 said the Supreme Court had translated 9,423 of its judgments from English to 14 regional languages.

Four of the judgments have even been translated to Nepali.

The Chief Justice was speaking at the Supreme Court’s Independence Day celebrations hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the court in his Red Fort address for its efforts to translate its judgments to regional languages to benefit the common man.

The highest number of judgments, 8,977, have been translated to Hindi followed by Tamil at 128. Gujarati has cornered the third spot at 86 while Malayalam and Odia share the fourth spot at 50 each.

Thirty-three apex court verdicts have been translated to Telugu, 31 to Bengali, 24 to Kannada, 20 to Marathi, 11 to Punjabi, four to Assamese, three to Urdu, one each in Garo and Khasi.

The Supreme Court’s translation project began in 2019 so that it’s judgments could be read and understood by the public in their native regional languages. The court had said the project was a homage to the nation’s diversity.

The project started during the tenure of Justice (retired) Ranjan Gogoi in mid-2019.

Justice Gogoi had given the credit to his successor and then number two judge, Justice S.A. Bobde, of first mooting the idea of translating the court’s judgments into regional languages. Justice Bobde continued the efforts during his tenure as top judge, introducing AI tools. Chief Justice Chandrachud has taken it to new levels, by expanding the language base and increasing the speed of translations.

The project includes not only translating Supreme Court judgments into vernacular but also to provide summaries of the apex court’s verdicts.

This would aid litigants, who after fighting their cases for years, were left unable to read the judgments in their own cases for the sole reason that they did not know English.

Chief Justice Chandrachud on August 15 said it was the court’s objective to have its judgments available in all regional languages.

“What use is to say you can argue in regional languages in court when the judgments are not available in regional languages?” the Chief Justice asked.