The official language of conducting business in Supreme Court is English.
In a break from the Constitution, albeit for few minutes, the Supreme Court allowed arguments to be addressed in Hindi during the hearing on the contempt plea against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
What prompted the Court to do so was the natural instinct of former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi who was unable to address the Court in English as the contumacious speech of Rahul Gandhi was given in Hindi. Inviting the attention of the bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna to the contents of the speech, Rohatgi said, "Supreme Court ne kaha hai ki Desh ka Chowkidar Narendra Modi chor hai." He appeared for BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, who filed contempt petition against Rahul.
Rohatgi broke into impromptu Hindi, "Aisa kabhi nahin kaha hai (nothing of this sort was said)." Making Rohatgi comfortable, the bench said, "Mr Rohatgi, we will hear you in Hindi." Rohatgi readily accepted and he went on to add, "Rafale ke mamle mein woh kahe hain ki Supreme Court ke nyayadhish (In the context of Rafale deal, he (Rahul) has said that CJI)." At this point, the bench again intervened, this time to change its earlier decision. "We cannot respond to you in Hindi. So you may switch back to English," the bench said.
Although petitioners who appear in person often speak Hindi as a language of their choice, this was perhaps the first time in recent past when a lawyer was asked by Court to break from the tradition and use Hindi as a medium of addressing Court. The official language of conducting business in Supreme Court is English. This is contained in Article 348 of the Indian Constitution.
Incidentally, the Court noted that Rohatgi faced no opposition from the other side as nobody chose to represent the Congress chief in Court. The bench told Rohatgi, "It seems you have no opposition." The bench went on to clarify what it meant to say in its order passed on April 10 related to Rafale deal and proceeded to seek an explanation from the Congress President by Monday.
Official Language
The official language of conducting business in Supreme Court is English. This is contained in Article 348 of the Indian Constitution.
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