By IANS,
New Delhi : A group of lawyers Thursday urged the chief justice of the delhi High Court to allow them to argue cases in Hindi instead of English, saying it is the national language and should be respected.
The Delhi unit of the All India Lawyers Union in its letter, written in Hindi, said when lawyers argue in Hindi, judges do not pay attention to them and English has been a “status symbol”.
Ashok Aggarwal, president of the Delhi unit of the lawyers association, said: “Even in our constitution, Article 19(A) says that everyone can express himself in any language and denying the use of Hindi in courts is a violation of this fundamental right.”
Moreover, Article 348 of the constitution provides for arguing court cases in English as well as regional languages, he pointed out.
“In our country, Hindi is the best medium of communication and use of this language does not mean that the lawyer has less legal knowledge,” Aggarwal added.
Hindi is being used in the high courts of Rajasthan, Allahabad and Madhya Pradesh, but not in the national capital, according to the lawyers’ union.
“Even in Tamil Nadu, use of Tamil language for arguing in courts is under the consideration of authorities,” Aggarwal said.