The Bombay High Court on Wednesday upheld the Maharashtra government’s rule which mandates shops and establishments to display their names in Marathi in Devanagari script as well, along with the signboard in the language of their choice, terming it as “reasonable”.
While dismissing the petition, a division bench of justices Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner - Federation of Retail Traders.
An amendment to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, which mandated that all shops and establishments shall display signboard of their names in Marathi in Devanagari script, the font of which shall be the same as that of the other script and not smaller.
The federation had challenged the rule alleging that the same was violative of Articles 13 (Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights), 19 (Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech) and 21 )Protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution of India.
Mayur Khandeparkar, federation’s advocate, argued that the state had adopted Marathi language as its official language for its own use. The government cannot foist any language on its citizens, he argued.
During the arguments, the judges questioned as to how was the petitioner’s fundamental rights violated when the government was not imposing a bar on anyone from using any other language.
“If the rule said that you have to use only Marathi then it would have been a matter of discussion. Here you can use any other language as well as there is no bar,” said Justice Patel.
Justice Jamdar pointed out that the rule was more for the convenience of the public at large in the state whose mother tongue is Marathi.
The court noted in its order: “More importantly, what the petitioner fails to recognise is that this requirement is not meant for retail traders but meant for workers and public who approach them, who are more likely to be familiar with Marathi.”
“Marathi maybe official language of the state government, but it's undeniably common language and mother tongue of state. It has own rich and diverse cultural heritage extending to literature and theatre,” added HC.
The judges even questioned the motive behind filing of the petition at this stage when the amendment was carried out in 2018. “The Rule was existing even prior to that (2018). Only its implementation was stayed,” said Justice Patel.
“To say that there is some sort of invidious discrimination is wholly untrue. If a trader wishes to carry trade in Maharashtra, then it must be subject to rules by government which seek to impose uniformity on all,” noted the court in its order.
The court further said there were some states in India which mandate use of only local language and script, which was not the case here in Maharashtra.
