Why in news:

• The state government of Haryana has recently proposed to amend the Haryana Official Language Act, 1969, aiming to use Hindi language in the courts and tribunals subordinate to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Key Points:

• The official notification issued in this regard, by the Haryana Information, Public Relations and Languages Department regarding the proposal of the state government has been approved by the Governor. Consequently, the new rules will be applicable from April 1, 2023.
• The government has taken this decision keeping in mind the convenience of public. According to the state government officials, people make maximum use of Hindi language in daily life. The objective of justice in a democracy is that the litigant should get speedy justice in his own language and he should not remain speechless during proceedings.
• It is worth mentioning here that the Haryana Official Language Act, 1969, was passed by the state legislature to adopt Hindi as the language used for official purposes and was made the Official language of the state under the Haryana Official Languages Act, 1969. Since then, the Hindi language is mostly being used as the language of administration.
• Notably, the Punjab Official Language Act, 1967 was amended by Punjab Act No. 11 of 1969, which added Sections 3A and 3B, that work in all civil courts and criminal courts subordinate to the Punjab and Haryana High Court and all revenue courts and tribunals will be done in Punjabi. A similar amendment has also been brought in the Haryana Official Language Act, 1969, to provide that work in all courts subordinate to the High Court and all tribunals constituted by the state government of Haryana shall be done in Hindi in Devanagari script.
• In addition to that, Section 3A has been included in the Haryana Official Language Act, 1969, under which any proceeding, judgment, decree or order passed in all civil courts and criminal courts subordinate to the Punjab and Haryana High Court and all revenue courts and tribunals shall be done in Hindi.