Lawyers have challenged in the Supreme Court a law which makes Hindi the official language in courts in Haryana.
Their petition contends that the Haryana Official Language (Amendment) Act of 2020 has unconstitutionally and arbitrarily imposed Hindi as the sole official language to be used in lower courts across the State.
Advocates Sameer Jain, Sandeep Bajaj, Angad Sandhu, Suvigya Awasthi and Anant Gupta have jointly challenged the new Section 3A incorporated into the Act.
The lawyers have argued that English is widely used by advocates and the subordinate judiciary in lower courts in justice administration work. The imposition of Hindi as the sole language would result in an unreasonable classification between lawyers who are fluent in Hindi and those who are not.
The petition says the proficiency in language required to argue a case is much more than in the ordinary use of a language. It said the amendment was a violation of the fundamental right to equality, freedom to practice a profession of choice, dignity and livelihood.
The lawyers argue that the amendment has been introduced under the misconception that everyone practising law in the lower courts of Haryana are proficient in Hindi. It said the reality is far from that as the State is an industrial hub. There were a sizeable number of lawyers who would be handicapped in arguing their cases to the fullest in Hindi. Imposing Hindi in courts and making it the only possible way to get justice is irrational, the petition says.
