Constitutional Provisions relating to English and other Indian languages.
Provisions relating to language may be divided into two parts: first, official language policy as
discussed in part 17 of the Constitution and secondly, certain provisions about language
mentioned in other articles elsewhere.
(a) Prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of language.
Article29(2): No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution
maintained by the state or receiving aid from the state on the grounds of
religion,race,caste,language or any of them. See details of State of Bombay v.Bombay
Education Society( A.I.R. 1954 S.C. 561).
In this case a circular issued by the Government of Bombay, directing the schools with
English medium education, to admit only Anglo-Indian Citizens of non-Asiatic dissent,
was declared ultra vires. Those whose mother tongue was not English were found to be
ineligible to study in these schools.
Also see J.Singh Banga v. State of Orrisa (A.I.R. 1977 Orissa. 30) where the High Court
ruled that denial of admission in a medical college on the ground that the pupil did not
have knowledge of speaking , reading and writing Oriya amounted to violation of the
article 29 (2).
Article 30(2) : The state shall not, while disbursing grant to minority educational
Institutions, discriminate on the ground of religion or language.
(b) Provisions meant for the protection of Languages.
Article 29 (1): “Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part
thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own, shall have the right to
conserve the same.” Linguistic minorities in different parts of India have the right to
establish their own educational Institutions.
See details in J.S. Sindhanti v. Pratap Singh Daulta( A.I.R. 1965 SC 183). Here the
Supreme Court observed that this right includes the right to agitate for the protection of
one’s distinct language and script … Unlike article 19 (1) article 29(1) is not subject to
any restrictions. Also see Rama Rao v. Telugu Desham (1983) where Andhra Pradesh
High Court ruled that appeal on the basis of the language during the election campaign
is protected if it does not endanger the integrity of the country.
(c) Requirement of instruction in the mother tongue at primary level.
Article 350 (A) reads: “State to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother
tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority
groups…” This provision was inserted by the Constitution (7th Amendment) Act, 1956.
(See how this issue has gathered fresh momentum recently after the declaration of the
New Education Policy of the Government of India.)
(d) Language used in the Indian Parliament. Article 348 states: … “ business of parliament
shall be transacted in Hindi or in English..” However, unless parliament by law
otherwise provides, this article shall, after the expiration of a period of fifteen years
from the commencement of this constitution, have the effect as if the words “ or in
English” were omitted there from”.
(e) Official Language Act (1963) and its amendment in 1967. By virtue of this amendment
the parliament extended the use of English language for the official purposes of the
Union in addition to Hindi indefinitely.
The Eighth Schedule [Article 344(1) and 351] There are 22 Indian languages in the
Eighth Schedule which would be specially developed by the state. They are represented
in the Official Languages Act constituted under article 344(1). The fact of the inclusion
of a language in the schedule is a matter of psychological and emotional satisfaction to
its speakers! This schedule includes languages such as Konkani ( Arunachal Pradesh Act
1986), Manipuri and Nepali ( Constitution Act,71st Amendment,1992), and Sindhi.( 21st
Amendment,1967). Languages such as Urdu, Kashmiri and Sanskrit were already
included in the original list. Now by virtue of yet another amendment of the
Constitution in 2004, four more languages were added. They are: Bodo, Dogri,Maithili
and Santhali.
Part XVII of the Constitution of India deals with the issue of official language.
Article 343(1) declares clearly that the Official language of the Union shall be Hindi in
Devanagri script. However, clause (2) of this article adds the condition that “for a period
of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall
continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used
immediately before such commencement..” However, The Official Language Act 1963,
and its amendment in 1967 extended the use of English indefinitely, for the official
purposes of the Union, in addition to the use of Hindi.
Official Language of the Union versus National Language.
Granville Austin has discussed this issue at some length in the 12th chapter titled,
“Language and the Constitution – The Half Hearted Compromise” in his classic work, The
Indian Constitution : Cornerstone of A Nation. According to Austin, at the time of
independence of India there were about a dozen major regional languages, each written
in a different script, and none of them was spoken by a majority of the population. Even
Hindustani, defined in the broadest terms as a bazaar language comprised of Hindi,Urdu
,Punjabi and words from other Indian languages as well as English, was spoken by about
45% of the population. That is why the framers of the Constitution did not provide for a
single language, as the national language, to be used throughout the length and breadth
of the nation. While Hindi( Hindustani) was given a special status as the preferred
language, in the words of Austin, “ the framers of the Constitution did not attempt the
impossible… yet they could not avoid giving Hindi a special status , so they provided,
not that there be a national language , but using a tactful euphemism, that Hindi should
be the official language of the Union.”
Three Language formula and the difficulties in adopting the formula.
