In Independence Day Speech, Prime Minister Thanks Supreme Court For Making Judgments Available In Regional Languages

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech, thanked the Supreme Court for ensuring that the judgments are translated into regional languages.  

"I thank the Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court has said the operative part of the judgments will be made available in the language of the party who has come to the Court. The importance of mother tongue is increasing today," the PM said.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who was present among the dignitaries attending the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort, folded his hands to convey his gratitude to the Prime Minister for lauding the Court's efforts.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had recently announced the plan to use Artificial Intelligence to make the judgments of the Supreme Court, which are originally published in English, available in the regional languages.

"A very important initiative which we have adopted recently, is our initiative for translation of the judgments of the Supreme Court in regional languages. Because we must understand that the language which we use namely English, is a language which is not comprehensible, particularly in its legal avatar, to 99.9% of our citizens, in which case really access to justice cannot be meaningful, unless citizens are able to access and understand in a language which they speak and comprehend, the judgments which we deliver whether in the high courts or in the Supreme Court", CJI had said while speaking at a public function in January 2023.

CJI Chandrachud stated that the SC would initially focus on translating Judgments into four languages—Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, and Odia. He added that gradually, the judgments will be made available in all scheduled languages.

Following the Supreme Court's lead, several High Courts across the country started publishing judgments in regional languages as well, apart from English.