179 lines
9.4 KiB
Plaintext
179 lines
9.4 KiB
Plaintext
PART XVII
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OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
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CHAPTER I.—LANGUAGE OF THE UNION
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343. Official language of the Union.—(1) The official language of the
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Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.
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The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union
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shall be the international form of Indian numerals.
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(2) Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), for a period of fifteen years
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from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall
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continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was
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being used immediately before such commencement:
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Provided that the President may, during the said period, by order
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authorise the use of the Hindi language in addition to the English language and
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of the Devanagari form of numerals in addition to the international form of
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Indian numerals for any of the official purposes of the Union.
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(3) Notwithstanding anything in this article, Parliament may by law
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provide for the use, after the said period of fifteen years, of—
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(a) the English language, or
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(b) the Devanagari form of numerals,
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for such purposes as may be specified in the law.
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344. Commission and Committee of Parliament on official
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language.—(1) The President shall, at the expiration of five years from the
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commencement of this Constitution and thereafter at the expiration of ten years
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from such commencement, by order constitute a Commission which shall
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consist of a Chairman and such other members representing the different
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languages specified in the Eighth Schedule as the President may appoint, and
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the order shall define the procedure to be followed by the Commission.
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(2) It shall be the duty of the Commission to make recommendations to
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the President as to—
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(a) the progressive use of the Hindi language for the official
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purposes of the Union;
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(b) restrictions on the use of the English language for all or any of
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the official purposes of the Union;
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(c) the language to be used for all or any of the purposes
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mentioned in article 348;
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174
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175
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THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
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(d) the form of numerals to be used for any one or more specified
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purposes of the Union;
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(e) any other matter referred to the Commission by the President
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as regards the official language of the Union and the language for
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communication between the Union and a State or between one State and
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another and their use.
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(3) In making their recommendations under clause (2), the Commission
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shall have due regard to the industrial, cultural and scientific advancement of
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India, and the just claims and the interests of persons belonging to the nonHind
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i speaking areas in regard to the public services.
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(4) There shall be constituted a Committee consisting of thirty members,
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of whom twenty shall be members of the House of the People and ten shall be
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members of the Council of States to be elected respectively by the members of
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the House of the People and the members of the Council of States in
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accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the
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single transferable vote.
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(5) It shall be the duty of the Committee to examine the
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recommendations of the Commission constituted under clause (1) and to report
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to the President their opinion thereon.
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(6) Notwithstanding anything in article 343, the President may, after
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consideration of the report referred to in clause (5), issue directions in
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accordance with the whole or any part of that report.
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CHAPTER II.—REGIONAL LANGUAGES
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345. Official language or languages of a State.—Subject to the
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provisions of articles 346 and 347, the Legislature of a State may by law adopt
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any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi as the language or
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languages to be used for all or any of the official purposes of that State:
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Provided that, until the Legislature of the State otherwise provides by
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law, the English language shall continue to be used for those official purposes
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within the State for which it was being used immediately before the
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commencement of this Constitution.
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346. Official language for communication between one State and
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another or between a State and the Union.—The language for the time being
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authorised for use in the Union for official purposes shall be the official
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language for communication between one State and another State and between
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a State and the Union:
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176
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THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
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Provided that if two or more States agree that the Hindi language should
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be the official language for communication between such States, that language
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may be used for such communication.
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347. Special provision relating to language spoken by a section of the
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population of a State.—On a demand being made in that behalf the President
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may, if he is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of a Sta
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te
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desire the use of any language spoken by them to be recognised by that State,
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direct that such language shall also be officially recognised throughout that
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State or any part thereof for such purpose as he may specify.
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CHAPTER III.—LANGUAGE OF THE SUPREME COURT,
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HIGH COURTS, ETC.
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348. Language to be used in the Supreme Court and in the High
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Courts and for Acts, Bills, etc.—(1) Notwithstanding anything in the
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foregoing provisions of this Part, until Parliament by law otherwise provides—
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(a) all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court,
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(b) the authoritative texts—
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(i) of all Bills to be introduced or amendments thereto to be
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moved in either House of Parliament or in the House or either
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House of the Legislature of a State,
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(ii) of all Acts passed by Parliament or the Legislature of a
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State and of all Ordinances promulgated by the President or the
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Governor of a State, and
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(iii) of all orders, rules, regulations and bye-laws issued
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under this Constitution or under any law made by Parliament or
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the Legislature of a State,
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shall be in the English language.
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(2) Notwithstanding anything in sub-clause (a) of clause (1), the
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Governor of a State may, with the previous consent of the President, authorise
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the use of the Hindi language, or any other language used for any official
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purposes of the State, in proceedings in the High Court having its principal sea
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t
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in that State:
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Provided that nothing in this clause shall apply to any judgment, decree
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or order passed or made by such High Court.
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177
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THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
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(3) Notwithstanding anything in sub-clause (b) of clause (1), where the
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Legislature of a State has prescribed any language other than the English
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language for use in Bills introduced in, or Acts passed by, the Legislature of t
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he
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State or in Ordinances promulgated by the Governor of the State or in any order,
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rule, regulation or bye-law referred to in paragraph (iii) of that sub-clause, a
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translation of the same in the English language published under the authority of
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the Governor of the State in the Official Gazette of that State shall be deemed
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to
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be the authoritative text thereof in the English language under this article.
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349. Special procedure for enactment of certain laws relating to
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language.—During the period of fifteen years from the commencement of this
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Constitution, no Bill or amendment making provision for the language to be
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used for any of the purposes mentioned in clause (1) of article 348 shall be
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introduced or moved in either House of Parliament without the previous
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sanction of the President, and the President shall not give his sanction to the
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introduction of any such Bill or the moving of any such amendment except
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after he has taken into consideration the recommendations of the Commission
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constituted under clause (1) of article 344 and the report of the Committee
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constituted under clause (4) of that article.
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CHAPTER IV.—SPECIAL DIRECTIVES
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350. Language to be used in representations for redress of
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grievances.—Every person shall be entitled to submit a representation for the
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redress of any grievance to any officer or authority of the Union or a State in
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any of the languages used in the Union or in the State, as the case may be.
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350A. Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary stage.—
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It shall be the endeavour of every State and of every local authority within the
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State to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the
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primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups;
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and the President may issue such directions to any State as he considers
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necessary or proper for securing the provision of such facilities.
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350B. Special Officer for linguistic minorities.—(1) There shall be a
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Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President.
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(2) It shall be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relat
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ing
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to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under this Constitution and
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report to the President upon those matters at such intervals as the President ma
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y
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direct, and the President shall cause all such reports to be laid before each Ho
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use of
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Parliament, and sent to the Governments of the States concerned.
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178
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THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
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351. Directive for development of the Hindi language.—It shall be the
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duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so
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that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the
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composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without
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interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani
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and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule, and by
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drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on
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Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages.
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