Aastha Thakur
Published on: 03 November 2022 at 17:16 IST
Jammu & Kashmir & Ladakh High Court dismissed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) requesting orders to declare Hindi as official language in the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir & Ladakh.
The divisional bench comprising of Chief Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul stated that the topic of discussion falls under within the domain and powers of the executive.
The high court, hence, ordered the applicant to
Accordingly, the High Court directed the petitioner to approach the competent body in order to propose that Hindi be recognised as the official language in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The order stated as follows,
“The subject matter of the PIL squarely comes within the domain and powers of the executive, therefore, we dispose of this PIL with direction to the petitioner to approach the competent authority/forum for seeking the relief as claimed in plea,”
According to the requirement under Articles 343 and 251 of the Indian Constitution, Jagdev Singh filed the PIL in an attempt to have the Hindi language recognised in the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
Before the J&K Reorganization Act, 2019 was passed, the official language of the former State was Urdu, and all official records, including those related to revenue, police, acts, and rules enacted by the Legislative Assembly, were either in Urdu or in English.