English: The Language of Supreme Court of India

A judge may hold his court in Hindi, but he must speak in English when addressing the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi recently told a judge. Several persons have expressed opinion criticizing the Court as ‘snobbish’ and ‘elitist’. But has the Court committed any wrong by its response in the above manner? Let us examine.

Constitutional Scheme in Relation to Language

Before proceeding further, it will be beneficial to see the Constitutional scheme in relation to language. In the Constitution of India Part XVII titled ‘Official Language’ groups language into following distinct groups viz:

• Language of the Union, ....