CONSTITUTION AND

LANGUAGE
The framers of the Constitutio n paid more attention
towards the use and development of the language.

 Provisions relating to language may be divided into

two par ts:

1. Pr ovisions relating to Language other than Par t 17.

2. Official language under Par t 17 of Constitution of

India
 (I)
CONSTITUTION AND PROVISIONS
RELATING TO LANGUAGE OTHER THAN
PART 17 (CONSTITUTION OF INDIA)
 A) PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION ON
THE GROUND OF LANGUAGE
 Ar ticle 29 (2): No citizen shall be denied admission into
any educational institution maintained by the State or
receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, l anguage or any of them.
Ca ses :
S t a te o f B o mbay v. B o mbay E d u ca tion S o c iety A IR 1954 S C 561
 A circular issued by govt. of Bombay directing the schools
with English medium to admit only Anglo- Indian & citizen
of n on - A siatic d escent i n th e cl asses taught in English
.
 S.C. held “It was discrimination to pupils whose mother-
tongue was not English hence ul tra vi res.
 Hindi Samiti v. U .O.I AIR 1990 SC 851
 It was observed that not to hold admission test in a
particular language would not constitute denial of
ad mission on the ground only of language.

J a gateshwar Singh Ba nga v. St ate of Or i ssa AI R 1 977 Or issa 3 0

 Orissa H.C. Ruled that denial of admission in a
medical college on the ground that the pupil did not
have knowledge of speaking, reading & writing Oriya
amounted to violation of Ar t . 29 ( 2) .
 Article 30 (2) “The State shall not , in granting aid to
educational institution , d iscriminate against any
ed ucational institution on the ground that it is under
the management of a minority, whether based on
religion or language.”

 Article 51-A (d) “it shall be d uty of ever y citizen of

India to promote harmony & the spirit of common
brotherhood amongst all the people of India
transcending religious, linguistic or sectional
diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to
dignity of women.”
 B) PROVISIONS MEANT FOR THE
PROTECTION OF THE LANGUAGE
 Article 29 (1): “Any section of citizens residing in the
territory of India or any part thereof having distinct
language , script or culture of its own shall have the right
to conser ve the same.”
This protection is available to all sections of citizens
w h ether –mi nority or ma j ority.
 Re Kerala education Bill AIR 1958 SC 956, S.C. pointed
out that with a view to effectively conserve one’s own
language minorities have right to establish educational
institutions.
 B.R. Rama Rao v. Telgu Desham AIR 1983 AP96
A .P.High court ruled that appeal on the basis of the
language during the election campaign is protected
under Article 29(1).
 Article 30 (1) “All minorities whether based on religion
or language , shall have the right to establish and
a d minister ed ucational i n stitutions of th eir ch oice.”

State of Bombay v. Bombay Education Society AIR

(1955) S CR 568
 S.C. Observed that minorities have right to establish
educational institutions for the instructions of their
children. It includes instructions through their own
l a nguage.
 The right of State to prescribe the medium of the
i n structions i s subject to A r ticle 30 (1)
 C.) MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

 Under Art. 350- A The Constitution of India ensures that the

children of the linguistic minorities shall receive instruction
t h rough t h eir m other-tongue at t h e pri mary st age o f e duc ation.

 This provision as inser ted by 7 th Amendment in 1956 to

safeguard interest of linguistic minorities after the
reorganization of States.

 In Re Ke rala case it was held “Linguistic minority is determined

on the basis of the population of the State as a whole and not
from any par ticular area or region therein.”

 In Ar ticle 244(2), 275(a) and para 6 of VI Schedule there is

provision for prescribing the language & manner in which
primary education shall be imparted in the primar y schools in
the districts.
 (III)EIGHTH SCHEDULE –
[ARTICLE 344(1) AND 351]
There a r e 2 2 la n guages in th e E ig hth sc h edule .
1. Their inclusion impli es that they would be developed
spec ially.
2. The next protection and impor tance i s that they would be
represented in Official Language Act constituted u/A 344
( 1 ).
3. Their words will be included in Hindi dic tionar y ( Ar ticle
3 51 )
 The fact of the inclusion of a language in 8 th schedule is
itself ma tter of p sychological & emotional sa tisfaction.
 Assamese, bengali, bodo, dongari,gujrati,hindi,kannada ,
kashmiri,konkani, malayalam, maithili, manipuri, marathi,
nepali, oriya, punja bi, sanskrit, santhali, sindhi, tamil, telgu,
urd u.
 (II)
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE UNDER PART 17
OF CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
THE PART XVII IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR CHAPTERS:

1) C hapter 1 : Ar ticle 343 & 344;

Deals with LANGUAGE O F UNION

2) C hapter 2 : Ar ticles 345-347;

Deals with R egional languages

3) C hapter 3 : Ar ticles 348 & 349;

Deals with Lang uage of S. C& H . C. Etc..

4) C hapter 4 : Ar ticle 350, 350- A & B & 351;

Deals with Special Directive.
 Chapter 4
Article 350, 350-A & B & 351

Deals with Special Directive.

Articl e 350: Language to be used in Repres entation fo r
redress of grievances.
 It gi ves right to every person to sub mit a representation fo r
the red ress o f an y grievance to an y o ffi cer /authorit y o f
Central go vt. / state go vt. in any of t he la nguag es used i n
UNION Or in State as the case may be.

Articl e 350-A: F acility fo r instruction in mother-tongue at

P rimary stage
 E very State is duty bound to pro vid e ad equate facilities for
instructions in the mother ton gue at pri mary stage of edu cation
to children belonging to linguistic minority group.

Article 350-B : Special officer for Linguistic minorities

 Th e President shall appoint special offi cer for ling uistic
minorities who will investigate all matters relating to the
safeguards provided for linguistic minorities und er
Constitution & report to Presid ent who shall laid it befor e
each Ho use o f Parliament and s end to go vt. of co ncerned
State.
 JUDICIAL SUPPORT IN DEVELOPMENT OF HINDI

 Though Article 351 is directive in nature, not

imperative, the S.C. has held that it is justiciable. The
court said that order s passed in contrar y to provision of
Art 351, will be held illegal.
R.R.Dalwai v. State of T.N. AIR 1976 SC 1559
 State govt. of T.N. declared pension for those agitators
who were causing stir & opposing Hindi
 The S.C. held that such declaration of pension is against
provision of Art 351 .
 If any State is involved in inciting agitation against
Hindi, such act shall be lamentable & to be thrashed out
at initial stage.