Amid escalating tussle between the Union government and Judiciary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appreciated Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud for making judgements available in regional languages.
Sharing a video of Chandrachud, Modi said Chandrachud's initiative is "a laudatory thought".
He said, "At a recent function, the Honourable CJI Justice DY Chandrachud spoke of the need to work towards making Supreme Court judgments available in regional languages. He also suggested the use of technology for it. This is a laudatory thought, which will help many people, particularly youngsters.
"India has several languages, which add to our cultural vibrancy. The Central Government is undertaking numerous efforts to encourage Indian languages including giving the option of studying subjects like engineering and medicine in one’s Matru Bhasha."
In the video shared by Modi, Chandrachud is heard saying, "The next step of our mission is to provide a translated copy of a Supreme Court judgement in every Indian language...What good is to a rural litigant who does not understand the tenor or language and niceties of English? So unless we reach out to our citizens in a language which they can understand, in a manner which they can comprehend, the work we do is not reaching out to 99 per cent of our population."
The push for regional languages mother tongues is a key agenda of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has introduced engineering and medical education in Hindi despite experts' criticism. Of the Madhya Pradesh's decision to teach medicine in Hindi, the PTI noted it would gravely limit their scope for growth and knowledge.
Former Indian Medical Association (IMA) President JA Jayalal told PTI, "What we are talking about is modern medicine, it is universal medicine. It is not only practised in India, it is practised throughout the world. If you are trained in a regional language, you cannot expect to go outside to study and update your knowledge and skills."
"It will be ok if you are going to stay at a local community level and never connect with the global community. Basic understanding you can give in a regional language, but if you want to update your skills, it is not going to help you."
