Supreme Courts judgments soon available in 6 regional language

Judgments of the Apex of India will soon be available in six Indian regional languages. As per news reports, Hindi, Telugu, Assamese, Kannada, Marathi and Odia translations of Supreme Court judgments are set to be introduced on the Court’s website by the end of the month.

CJI Ranjan Gogoi has also cleared the indigenous developed translating software by electronic software wing of the Supreme Court. Unlike orders written in English that are posted on the website on the day they are passed, the translated versions would be uploaded a week later. Report said.

This move to make Supreme Court of India judgments multi-lingual is reportedly credited to a 2017 conference held in Kochi, during which President Ram Nath Kovind highlighted the need to render judgments of Supreme Court and High Courts in regional languages for the benefit of non-English speakers.

While speaking at the Valedictory Function of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of High Court of Kerala, the president had said:

“It is important to not only take justice to the people, but also to make it understandable to litigating parties in a language they know. High Courts of Kerala, the president had said: “It is important to not only take justice to the people, but also to make it understandable to litigating parties in a language they know. High Courts deliver judgements in English, but we are a country of diverse languages. The litigant may not be conversant with English and the finer points of the judgement may escape him or her. The litigating parties will thus be dependent on the lawyer or another person to translate the judgement. This can add to time and cost.”

A source has been quoted as explaining that,

“This is because the idea is to ensure that the judgment is easily understood by the litigant, who may not be conversant with English.”