CHENNAI: The Madras High Court Advocates Association (MHAA) has moved Madras high court seeking to permit use of Tamil alongside English in the proceedings of the court to enable the Tamil-speaking litigants to understand, participate and instruct counsel effectively in their cases.When the plea came up for hearing before the first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan on Monday, the court was informed that a similar PIL had been filed by the Madurai Bar Association also, but it was not listed for hearing. Taking note of the same, the court said it would hear both petitions together and adjourned the hearing by a week.The PIL moved by MHAA challenged the Union Cabinet’s May 21, 1965, decision making English as the common language of high courts and the Supreme Court until Hindi replaced it.An executive policy cannot restrict the constitutional option expressly available under Article 348 (2) of the Constitution, the petition said and pointed out that the Tamil Nadu assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Dec 6, 2006, and forwarded its proposal with the Governor’s recommendation to the centre on the following day.The high court recorded its in-principle support and identified the required facilities for making Tamil as the language of its proceedings 20 years ago. The proposal and subsequent requests were never sent to the Presidential nod under Article 348 (2) of the Constitution due to reasons best known to the centre, the association said.The petition pointed out that a similar resolution was adopted unanimously by the Tamil Nadu assembly on Sept 3, for making Tamil as the language for the high court proceedings.
