Madras HC allows indefinite fast demanding Tamil be made Official Court Language

Last week, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court allowed a petition to conduct an indefinite fast demanding that the Central government take steps to make Tamil the official language of the Court..The order was passed by Justice SS Sundar in response to a petition filed by advocate Bhagwath Singh. In his petition, Singh has pleaded that the Centre invoke Article 348 (2) of the Indian Constitution and Section 7 of the Indian Official Languages Act, in order to make Tamil the High Court’s official language..The petitioner had submitted that all Indian states were entitled to opt for the language of their respective courts, as is understood from the Constitutional scheme, the Indian Languages Act, 1963, as well as state practice..The petitioner alluded to the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar as examples of states which have opted for their official state languages as the language of their respective courts..He argued that similar requests sent in thereafter by West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka were rejected by the Supreme Court, violating the Constitutional scheme under Article 348 (2) as well as Section 7 of the Indian Official Languages Act, both of which only require authorization of the state Governor, following Presidential assent..He further submitted that the denial of the right to conduct a hunger strike would amount to a violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution..Following repeated refusals by local authorities to grant permission to do so, the petitioner approached the High Court under Article 226, praying for a writ of mandamus to direct respondent authorities to permit the indefinite fast..The Court allowed the petitioner’s prayer to conduct the fast on July 27, 2017. The petitioner was directed to conduct the fast in areas earmarked for the purpose by the respondent-authorities. Further, it was directed that an affidavit be presented, that the event will not incite violence..Details regarding the organisers, other participants and leaders seeking to lend their support for the event were directed to be intimated beforehand. The Court also ruled that the concerned authorities were at liberty to take appropriate legal action against any illegal or unauthorized activities likely to disrupt the peace..Read copy of Writ Petition here:.Read Order here [Download to view more clearly]: