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Gujarati in High Court: Advocates divided over language war

The introduction of Gujarati as a second language in the High Court was opposed by 62% of the attorneys, The Indian Express reported. In a press release, GHAA President and Senior Advocate Asim Pandya made it clear that his prior representation was made in his individual capacity and was not on behalf of the advocates' organisation.

Mirror Now Digital

Updated Oct 1, 2022, 17:17 IST

Ahmedabad High Court.

Photo : BCCL

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

62 percent advocates were against introducing Gujarati as a second language in the HC.
The appeal is postponed for now after division of language.

Ahmedabad: Following a difference of opinion among the attorneys, the Gujarat High Court Advocates' Association (GHAA) declared on Friday that it has decided to postpone its demand for the use of Gujarati as a second language in High Court hearings.

The introduction of Gujarati as a second language in the High Court was opposed by 62% of the attorneys, The Indian Express reported.

In a press release, GHAA President and Senior Advocate Asim Pandya made it clear that his prior representation was made in his individual capacity and was not on behalf of the advocates' organisation.

Pandya had written to the governor of Gujarat, Acharya Devvrat, on September 8 asking that Gujarati be used in addition to English in the High Court hearings.

According to the GHAA president's news release, he launched the campaign because he thought the justice delivery system prioritised litigants above advocates, but he encountered "strong resistance" from the majority of the advocates' body.

Pandya reported an "incomplete poll" that was conducted among the legal professionals, in which, of the 81 respondents, 62% had voted against adding Gujarati as an additional language to the High Court and 38% had voted in favour of the idea.

Pandya said that the demand for Gujarati to be added as an additional language was in consonance as well as in the advancement of the purposes and objects of the constitution of GHCAA, however, he has since opted not to press his personal demand for Gujarati before the Governor.

This occurs at the same time that former IAS official KG Vanzara has been writing to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel since July, asking him to issue all of the government's directives, laws, and notifications in both Gujarati and English.

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