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India has 22 official languages. According to Census of India, the total number of mother tongues spoken in India is 1652. However, only around 150 languages have a sizable speaking population. The Indian census of 1961 recognised 1,652 diverse languages in India. Despite the variety of languages present in India the judgements are only published in English. The Supreme Court has made an important decision in for the benefit of common people as well as litigants who are not fluent in English.
This idea was propounded by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath kovind on October 2017 as he wanted a certified translation copies of judgement to be made available to the litigants by the High Court in the regional language.
It was reported that the judgements will be translated into 6 vernacular language Assamese, Kannada, Odia, Telugu, Hindi and Marati by the Hindustan Times. The indigenously developed software by the electronic software wing of Supreme Court was validated by the Chief Justice of India. The translated version of the judgements will be uploaded on the website within a week's time of the English judgement that is posted on the website.
The President suggested “It is important not only to take justice to the people but also to make it understandable to litigating parties in a language they know. High Courts deliver judgements in English but we are a country of diverse languages. The litigant may not be conversant with English and finer points of judgement escape him or her. The litigating parties will thus be dependent on the lawyer or another person to translate the judgement. This can add to time and cost.
Perhaps system could be evolved whereby certified translation copies of judgement are made available by the Honourable High Courts in local or regional language. This happens in a period of say 24 to 36 hours after the judgement is pronounced. The language could be Malayalam in Honourable Kerala High Court or Hindi in Patna High Court as the case may be.” During the valedictory function of Diamond Jubilee celebrations of High Court of Kerala
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