HC dismisses plea for changing titles of new criminal laws
18-08-2024
HC dismisses plea for changing titles of new criminal laws
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation seeking a directive to the Central government to change the titles of the three new criminal laws – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam – to English.
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation seeking a directive to the Central government to change the titles of the three new criminal laws – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam – to English.
The petitioner contended that the nomenclatures in Hindi and Sanskrit will create confusion, ambiguity and difficulty for the non-Hindi and non-Sanskrit speakers within the legal community. The petitioner contended that Article 348 of the Constitution mandates that even the names and authoritative texts of laws enacted by Parliament and Assemblies should be in English.
Counsel for the Central government contended that names are given in English letters and even script and contents of the enactments are in English. In fact, many enactments such as the ones for Lokpal, Lokayukta, Prasar Bharati Act, Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha Act use Hindi as their titles.