New Delhi, July 3
Two years after President Ram Nath Kovind suggested that copies of court judgments be made available in the language of litigants, the Supreme Court is making arrangements to make it a reality.
English being the official language of the Supreme Court, all the proceedings are conducted in it and judgments too are delivered in the same language. However, barely a month from now, the SC will be making its verdicts available on its website in Hindi and five regional languages, including Assamese, Kannada, Marathi, Odia and Telugu, sources in the SC said, adding the software for the purpose was developed by the SC’s “in-house” electronic software wing.
The languages were selected following requests from Hindi-speaking states, Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, they added. Certain other languages are likely to be added to the list in the next phase.
Non-English speaking litigants can visit the top court’s website and know the status of their cases sitting at home in the language they are well-versed with, the sources said. Original verdicts delivered in English will be translated into these six languages, they added. The development comes eight months after CJI Ranjan Gogoi told SC correspondents in an informal interaction that there was a plan to have SC verdicts translated into Hindi and later, into vernacular languages for the benefit of litigants.
While verdicts in English are generally available on the top court’s website by the evening, the translated copies would take almost a week to be uploaded, they said.
Addressing the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Kerala HC in 2017, Kovind had said: “It’s important to not only take justice to the people, but also make it understandable to litigating parties in a language they know…. The litigant may not be conversant with English and the finer points of the judgment may escape him or her.” — TNS
Clearing barrier
- President Ram Nath Kovind had suggested the move two years ago
- Regional languages are Assamese, Kannada, Marathi, Odia and Telugu
- Other languages are likely to be added to the list in the next phase
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