Supreme Court declines plea for Hindi language commission

The Supreme Court on Friday declined a public interest litigation seeking an order directing the Centre to establish a commission to consider making Hindi an official language of the Court. The bench said language changes cannot be imposed through judicial orders and are being handled through gradual administrative reforms. The petition was filed by Brahmeshwar Nath Mishra. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana heard the plea, which asked the Centre to form a commission to examine and recommend the use of Hindi. The petitioner’s counsel argued that the request was grounded in constitutional provisions and urged the judges to direct the commission’s formation. The bench declined. During the hearing, the judges said the requested changes would require a constitutional amendment and could not be achieved through a court order. They characterized language-related changes as matters for phased institutional or administrative reform rather than judicial direction. Surya Kant said the Court is already providing brief descriptions of reports in Hindi and intends to begin doing so in other regional languages.