SC Rejects Plea Seeking to Declare Sanskrit as National Language of India

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea seeking to declare Sanskrit as the national language of India.

Giving a language "national" status is a policy decision that needs a Constitutional amendment and is not mandated by the court, a bench of Justices MR Shah and Krishna Murari rejected the petition.

The bench said, “This lies in the realm of policy decision and even for the aforesaid, Constitution of India is to be amended. No writ can be issued to Parliament for declaring a language as a national language.”

“How many cities in India speak Sanskrit? Do you speak Sanskrit? Can you recite one line in Sanskrit or at least translate the prayer in your writ petition to Sanskrit,” the bench asked the petitioner.

The top court rejected the plea and stated that the petitioner may be free to bring such a case to the government.

Lawyer KG Vanzara, a retired IAS officer, filed the PIL.

The petition requested that the Central government notify Sanskrit as the country's official language, claiming that doing so will not conflict with the current provisions of the Constitution that designate English and Hindi as the nation's official languages.

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