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The Official language of the Union of India is Hindi and its subsidiary official language is English;¹ States in India can legislate their own official languages.¹ Neither the Constitution of India, nor any Indian law defines any national language.^{citation neededpage # needed}

States specify their own official language(s) through legislation. The section of the Constitution of India dealing with official languages therefore includes detailed provisions^{2original research?} which deal not just with the languages used for the official purposes of the union,^{3original research?} but also with the languages that are to be used for the official purposes of each state and union territory in the country,^{4original research?} and the languages that are to be used for communication between the union and the states inter se.^{5original research?}

At the time the constitution entered into force, English was used for most official purposes both at the federal level and in the various states.^{citation needed} The constitution envisaged the gradual phasing in of local languages, principally Hindi, to replace English over a fifteen-year period, but gave Parliament the power to, by law, provide for the continued use of English even thereafter.^{citation needed} Accordingly, English continues to be used today, in combination with Hindi (at the central level and in some states) and other languages (at the state level).^{citation needed}

The legal framework governing the use of languages for official purpose currently includes the Constitution, the Official Languages Act, 1963, Official Languages (Use for Official Purpose of the Union) Rules, 1976, and various state laws, as well as rules and regulations made by the central government and the states.

Official languages of the Union

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Hindi and English

The Indian constitution, in 1950, declared Hindi in Devanagari script to be the official language of the union.⁶ Unless Parliament decided otherwise, the use of English for official purposes was to cease 15 years after the constitution came into effect, i.e., on 26 January 1965.⁷ The prospect of the changeover, however, led to much alarm in the non Hindi-speaking areas of India, as a result of which Parliament enacted the Official Languages Act, 1963,^8910111213 which provided for the continued use of English for official purposes along with Hindi, even after 1965. An attempt was made in late 1964 to expressly provide for an end to the use of English, but it was met with protests from across the country. Some of these protests also turned violent. Widespread protests occurred in states such as Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Karnataka, Pondicherry and Andhra Pradesh. As a result of these protests, the proposal was dropped,¹⁴¹⁵ and the Act itself was amended in 1967 to provide that the use of English would not be ended until a resolution to that effect was passed by the legislature of every state that had not adopted Hindi as its official language, and by each house of the Indian Parliament.^{16original research?}

The current position is thus that the Union government may continue to use English in addition to Hindi for its official purposes^{17original research?} as a "subsidiary official language,"^{18original research?} but is also required to prepare and execute a programme to progressively increase its use of Hindi.¹⁹ The exact extent to which, and the areas in which, the Union government uses Hindi and English, respectively, is determined by the provisions of the Constitution, the Official Languages Act, 1963, the Official Languages Rules, 1976, and statutory instruments made by the Department of Official Language under these laws.

The language of Parliamentary proceedings and laws

The Indian constitution draws a distinction between the language to be used in Parliamentary proceedings, and the language in which laws are to be made. Parliamentary business, according to the Constitution, may be conducted in either Hindi or English.^{20original research?} The use of English in parliamentary proceedings was to be phased out at the end of fifteen years unless Parliament chose to extend its use,^{21original research?} which Parliament did through the Official Languages Act, 1963.^{22original research?} In addition, the constitution permits a person who is unable to express himself in either Hindi or English to, with the permission of the Speaker of the relevant House, address the House in his mother tongue.^{23original research?}

In contrast, the constitution requires the authoritative text of all laws, including Parliamentary enactments and statutory instruments, to be in English, until Parliament decides otherwise.^{24original research?} Parliament has not exercised its power to so decide, instead merely requiring that all such laws and instruments, and all bills brought before it, also be translated into Hindi, though the English text remains authoritative.^{25original research?}

The language of the judiciary

The constitution provides that all proceedings in the Supreme Court of India, the country's highest court, shall be in English.²⁶ Parliament has the power to alter this by law, but has not done so.²⁷

The language of administration

The Union government is required by law to progressively increase the use of Hindi in its official work,¹⁹ which it has sought to do through "persuasion, incentive and goodwill."²⁸

The Official Language Act provides that the Union government shall use both Hindi and English in most administrative documents that are intended for the public.²⁹ The Official Languages Rules, in contrast, provide for a higher degree of use of Hindi in communications between offices of the central government (other than offices in Tamil Nadu, to which the rules do not apply³⁰). Communications between different departments within the central government may be in either Hindi or English, although a translation into the other language must be provided if required.³¹ Communications within offices of the same department, however, must be in Hindi if the offices are in Hindi-speaking states,³² and in either Hindi or English otherwise with Hindi being used in proportion to the percentage of staff in the receiving office who have a working knowledge of Hindi.³³ Notes and memos in files may be in either Hindi or English, with the Government having a duty to provide a translation into the other language if required.³⁴

In addition, every person submitting a petition for the redress of a grievance to a government officer or authority has a constitutional right to submit it in any language used in India.³⁵

Official languages at the state level

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The Indian constitution does not specify the official languages to be used by the states for the conduct of their official functions, and leaves each state free to, through its legislature, adopt Hindi or any language used in its territory as its official language or languages.³⁶ The language need not be one of those listed in the Eighth Schedule, and several states have adopted official languages which are not so listed. Examples include Kokborok in Tripura, Mizo in Mizoram, Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia in Meghalaya, and French in Pondicherry.

The language of the legislature and administration

The constitutional provisions in relation to use of the official language in legislation at the State level largely mirror those relating to the official language at the central level, with minor variations. State legislatures may conduct their business in their official language, Hindi or (for a transitional period, which the legislature can extend if it so chooses) English, and members who cannot use any of these have the same rights to their mother tongue with the Speaker's permission.³⁷ The authoritative text of all laws must be in English, unless Parliament passes a law permitting a state to use another language, and if the original text of a law is in a different language, an authoritative English translation of all laws must be prepared.³⁸

The state has the right to regulate the use of its official language in public administration, and in general, neither the constitution nor any central enactment imposes any restriction on this right. However, every person submitting a petition for the redress of a grievance to an officer or authority of the state government has a constitutional right to submit it in any language used in that state, regardless of its official status.³⁵

In addition, the constitution grants the central government, acting through the President, the power to issue certain directives to the government of a state in relation to the use of minority languages for official purposes. The President may direct a State to officially recognise a language spoken in its territory for specified purposes and in specified regions, if its speakers demand it and satisfy him that a substantial proportion of the State's population desire its use.³⁹ Similarly, States and local authorities are required to endeavour to provide primary education in the mother tongue for all linguistic minorities, regardless of whether or not their language is official in that State, and the President has the power to issue directions he deems necessary to ensure that they are provided these facilities.⁴⁰

The language of the judiciary

States have significantly less freedom in relation to determine the language in which judicial proceedings in their respective High Courts will be conducted. The constitution gives the power to authorise the use of Hindi, or the state's official language in proceedings of the High Court to the Governor, rather than the state legislature, and requires the Governor to obtain the consent of the President of India,⁴¹ who in these matters acts on the advice of the Government of India. The Official Languages Act gives the Governor a similar power, subject to similar conditions, in relation to the language in which the High Court's judgments will be delivered.⁴²

Four states - Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan - have been granted the right to conduct proceedings in their High Courts in their official language, which, for all of them, was Hindi. However, the only non-Hindi state to seek a similar power - Tamil Nadu, which sought the right to conduct proceedings in Tamil in its High Court - had its application rejected by the central government earlier , which said it was advised to do so by the Supreme Court.⁴³ now in a new move the lawministry has said that it wont object to Tamil Nadu's claim to have Tamil as an official language to conduct proceedings in Tamil in its High Court^444546474849

Languages currently used by Indian states and union territories

States

Union Territories

The languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution

The Eighth Schedule to the Indian Constitution contains a list of 22 scheduled languages. At the time the constitution was enacted, inclusion in this list meant that the language was entitled to representation on the Official Languages Commission,⁹¹ and that the language would be one of the bases that would be drawn upon to enrich Hindi, the official language of the Union.⁹² The list has since, however, acquired further significance. The Government of India is now under an obligation to take measures for the development of these languages, such that "they grow rapidly in richness and become effective means of communicating modern knowledge."⁹³ In addition, a candidate appearing in an examination conducted for public service at a higher level is entitled to use any of these languages as the medium in which he answers the paper.⁹⁴

Via the 92nd Constitutional amendment 2003, 4 new languages – Bodo, Maithili, Dogri, and Santhali – were added to the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.⁹⁵

The following table lists the languages set out in the eighth schedule as of May 2007, together with the regions where they are used:⁹⁶

Since 2003, a government committee has been looking into the feasibility of treating all languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution as "Official Languages of the Union".⁹⁷

The language of centre-state and interstate communication

The language in which communications between different states, or from the central government to a state or a person in a state, shall be sent is regulated by the Official Languages Act and, for states other than Tamil Nadu, by the Official Languages Rules. Communication between states who use Hindi as their official language is required to be in Hindi, whereas communication between a state whose official language is Hindi and one whose is not is required to be in English, or in Hindi with an accompanying English translation (unless the receiving state agrees to dispense with the translation).¹⁷

Communication between the centre and states which use Hindi as their official language (classified by the Official Language Rules as "the states in Region A"), and with persons who live in those states, is in Hindi, except in exceptional cases.⁹⁸ Communication with a second category of states, which do not use Hindi as their official language but are willing to communicate with the centre in Hindi (currently Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab and Chandigarh⁹⁹) is usually in Hindi, whilst communications sent to an individual in those states may be in either Hindi or English.¹⁰⁰ Communication with all other states, and with persons living in them, is in English.¹⁰¹

See also

• Languages of India
• Linguistic demographics of India

References