The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has opposed the Central government’s Hindi names for the Bills introduced in Parliament on Friday to replace British-era criminal laws. DMK MP P Wilson accused the Centre of forcing Hindi throughout India by introducing the three recently introduced Bills in Hindi. “We request that the names of the three Bills be changed to English. Mandatory Hindi should not be implemented, as it means imposing and is unconstitutional,” Wilson said.
Addressing journalists at Chennai airport on his return from Delhi after attending the Parliament session, the MP said, “English is the common language, as India has many different languages. All three Bills are in Hindi, so people don’t understand which Bill it is. Those names are hard to pronounce. This will lead to the forced introduction of Hindi throughout India.”
The three bills have been named Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023; and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023. They will replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Criminal Procedure Act, 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively.
Wilson cited Article 348 of the Constitution of India, where it has been stated ‘All Bills to be introduced or amendments thereto to be moved in either House of Parliament or in the House or either House of the Legislature of a State, shall be in the English language’.
“South Indian lawyers are going to spend most of the time in courts trying to pronounce these names,” Wilson noted. “Earlier, when the Union Government tried to introduce a legislation with a Hindi name in Parliament, I had opposed the same & the Hon. Union Finance Minister had clarified that the name of the Bill was only in English but the Hindi portion should have been in brackets.”
