By IANS,
Chennai: Prior to her attending the World Classical Tamil Conference in Coimbatore Wednesday, President Pratibha Patil has been urged by AIADMK, MDMK and Communist Party of India (CPI) to give her consent to the use of Tamil in the Madras High Court.
A delegation of Members of Parliament (MP) belonging to AIADMK and MDMK met the President Monday and handed over a letter with their demand. The letter was signed by Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa, CPI state unit secretary D. Pandian, MDMK general secretary Vaiko, and the MPs of AIADMK and MDMK.
Citing the 2006 resolution passed in the state assembly for introduction of Tamil in Madras High Court, the letter said: “…proposals were also sent to the government of India for obtaining the consent of the president of India for the proposal. However, through its letter F No L-110251/I/2007-Jus dated Feb 27, 2007, the government of India stated that it was ‘not proper to introduce regional language in the orders, decrees and other proceedings of the High Court'”.
Referring to the article 348 (2) of the Constitution and Section 7 of the Official Languages Act, 1963, the letter noted that Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are using their respective official languages in their high Courts.
“With such a strong case, the government of Tamil Nadu has not bothered to present the case for Tamil as a language of the High Court,” the letter said.
Referring to the fast by the Madras High Court lawyers demanding the use of Tamil in the High Court, the opposition parties in their letter said: “In the wake of total insensitivity to their demand by the DMK state government, they launched an agitation. Today, the agitation has reached such an emotional stage that several lawyers are on a ‘fast unto death’ within the campus of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court since June 9, 2010.”
“It is against this painful backdrop that the state government is organising its ‘World Classical Tamil Conference’ in Coimbatore,” the letter said, appealing to the president to accede to the demand.