Case Law: Manish Kanaiyalal Gupta v. State of Gujarat
In the case of Manish Kanaiyalal Gupta v. State of Gujarat decided on 8 July 2015 before Gujarat High Court whereby the applicant has filed for a criminal revision under section 397 r/w 401 CrPC. The applicant herein decided to appear party-in-person and before the court presented his case in Hindi and he was assisted by his friend in Gujarati which was not allowed by the court. The court not allowing the applicant to present the case in Hindi said that the proceedings can only be conducted in English. Article 348 of the Indian Constitution states that no other language other than English during the court proceeding be used, though other language can be used if the use of the language has been notified by the Governor with the prior consent of the President. As there has been no such notification in the state of Gujarat to his effect and also Rule 31A & 37 of Gujarat High Court Rules, 1993 does not lay down for use of any other language except English during court proceeding. The High Court relied on a decision of the Supreme Court in 2001 where the Governor of Madhya Pradesh has notified the use of Hindi language during court proceeding with the approval of the President. Hence, relying on the above arguments the court dismissed the applicants plea and stated the use of any other language other than English in court proceeding is prohibited.
