Not long ago, it was reported members of the bar at certain places had agitated for introduction of Hindi as it was the NATIONAL language. What is reproduced below should remove the misconeption from which many of us are suffering:
Guj HC: Hindi is not nat’l language
Saeed Khan | TNN
Ahmedabad: Does India have a national language? No, says the Gujarat high court. The court also observed that in India, the majority of the people have accepted Hindi as a national language and many speak Hindi and write in Devanagari scriptt, but it’s not officially the national language.
With this observation, a bench headed by Chief Justice S J Mukhopadhaya refused to issue directions that packaged commodities must contain details about goods in Hindi.
Petitioner Suresh Kachhadia had, in 2009, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Gujarat HC seeking mandamus to the Centre as well as the state government to make it mandatory for manufacturers of goods to print in Hindi, all details of goods like price, ingredients and the date of manufacture. His contention was that the consumers are entitled to know what they are consuming.
It was argued that because Hindi is the national language and is understood by a large number of people, directions should be given to publish all such details in Hindi. Traders can’t be forced to use Hindi: Guj HC
Ahmedabad: Petitioner Suresh Kachhadia had in his 2009 PIL in Gujarat high court sought mandamus to the Centre and the state government to make it mandatory for manufacturers to print in Hindi details of goods, like date of manufacture and price.
His counsel placed reliance on deliberations in the assembly. The Centre’s counsel referred to the Standard of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules and told court that such declaration on packets should be either in English or in Hindi in Devanagari scriptt. But the court asked whether there was any notification saying Hindi is India’s national language. No such notification could be produced, because Hindi is India’s official, not national language. HC concluded particulars of declaration should be in Hindi in Devanagari scriptt or in English, and it’s their prerogative to use English
