Maharashtra Govt Should Implement Its Policy Seriously To Promote Marathi Language: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has ordered the Maharashtra government to take its plan to promote the Marathi language seriously while also directing it to hold the state's public prosecutor recruitment exam in Marathi. A division bench of Justices SV Gangapurwala and RN Laddha on Wednesday (September 7) issued the ruling in response to a petition filed from Pratap Prakash Jadhav, an advocate based in Navi Mumbai.

In his petition, Jadhav requested that the public prosecutors' exam to be held in Marathi as well as English rather than simply in the latter language. The order was made available on Saturday.

What Did Bombay High Court Observe?

As per NDTV, Jadhav claimed to have studied Marathi since elementary school and that the language is typically used in court proceedings before Judicial Magistrate First Class and Civil Judge Junior Division. He said that the indigenous tongue of his state is Marathi.

In its ruling, the Bombay HC stated that the Maharashtra government needed to take this matter seriously. It observed, "The government cannot say that for the examination of the magistrates and civil judges can be provided for answering in Marathi language and for the examination of Public Prosecutor the same facility would not be provided. In fact, it is the general stand of the government to promote the local language (Marathi)."

The court continued, "We may not fathom the stand of the government." The test was scheduled for September 11, 2022, so it stated that it might not be possible for an order to be approved for this year's test.

Nevertheless, the court noted that the government should ensure that the subsequent examination to recruit public prosecutors shall be conducted in English as well as Marathi language. It added that its decision would contribute to putting the state of Maharashtra's policy of promoting Marathi into practice.

Applications For The Role Of Public Prosecutor

According to the plea, the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) conducts exams in Marathi and English to select judges for lower courts. Additional Government Pleader Molina Thakur informed the court that 7,700 people would be applying for the public prosecutors' positions this year.

She asserted that only the petitioner had voiced a language problem, and it might not be able to locate an examiner to evaluate the answer papers in Marathi.

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