Bombay High Court trashed a petition to make Marathi as the official language in the court

Mumbai: Bombay High Court on Wednesday trashed a petition seeking directions to make Marathi as the official language in the HC. This is the second time the court has dismissed the same petition.

The petition by Rakesh Agarwal from Jalna district had sought directions to allow filing of petitions and applications in Marathi language. He alleged that litigants, who wanted to file proceedings in Marathi and argue those in that language, were treated differently.

All high courts across the country have English as their official language while lower courts can conduct court proceedings in regional languages or the state language.

Agarwal’s previous petition was rejected by a division bench headed by Justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Justice Gautam Patel in May 2016. However, he challenged the judgment citing ‘factual errors’ in it.

Agarwal argued that if a litigant is not allowed to argue or file proceedings in Marathi language, s/he is denied ‘access to justice.’

While dismissing the plea, Justice Dharmadhikari said, “The Constitution guarantees access to justice to all irrespective of their economic and social status. Also, the grounds as raised do not point towards any error of the law .”