Bombay High Court Directs State To Conduct Public Prosecutor Exam In Marathi Also

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to conduct the next exam for recruitment of public prosecutors in English as well as Marathi language.

The direction would not be applicable for the upcoming exam to be conducted by MPSC on 11^th September but for subsequent examinations.

Justices S. V. Gangapurwala and R. N. Laddha were dealing with a writ petition praying that the upcoming exam for recruitment of public prosecutors be conducted in Marathi also.

Advocate Alankar Kirpekar for the petitioner submitted that the proceedings before the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) and Civil Judge Junior Division are usually conducted in Marathi. Even the exam for recruitment of JMFC is conducted in both English and Marathi.

He further said that expecting him to answer the question paper in English would be prejudicial as he has studied throughout in Marathi.

M. P. Thakur, AGP for the state submitted that the state will consider this matter before the next exam. It may not be possible to find an examiner to assess answer paper in Marathi.

The bench observed that it cannot be fathomed that the JMFC exam can be conducted in Marathi but the same facility cannot be given for the Public Prosecutor exam.

In 2010, the Bombay High Court in Prashant P. Giri v. State of Maharashtra had directed the state to conduct the exams of subordinate Judicial Officers in Marathi along with English.

"Twelve years have passed by. It cannot be comprehended that even after 12 years, the Government is still searching for the examiners to assess the answer papers in Marathi language", the court observed in the present case.

Observing that it may not be possible to conduct the present exam in Marathi as it is just around the corner, the court directed the state to ensure that subsequent exams are conducted in both Marathi and English.

Case no. – WRIT PETITION NO. 10021 OF 2022

Case title – Pratap Prakash Jadhav v. State of Maharashtra and Anr.

Coram – Justice S. V. Gangapurwala and Justice R. N. Laddha

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