Vijay’s ‘Tamil in courts’ move gets assembly clearance. Over to Centre

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay moved a government resolution in the Assembly on Thursday seeking recognition of Tamil as the primary language of the Madras High Court, alongside English. This is the latest assertion of Tamil pride and pushback against dominance of Hindi, by Chief Minister Vijay; a new test for Centre, Supreme Court’s position on regional languages.

The resolution asks the Union government and President to approve the change under Article 348(2) of the Constitution and Section 7 of the Official Languages Act, 1963. It seeks procedures to file petitions, documents and arguments in Tamil; issue judgments, decrees and orders in Tamil; and train judges, lawyers and court staff in legal Tamil and translation.

English translations would accompany rulings, as the law requires. Vijay said Tamil is the State’s official language and is legally used in civil and criminal courts, tribunals, rent and revenue courts below the High Court.

Extending its use to the High Court was “a natural next step” and an access-to-justice measure for ordinary citizens, not an attempt to remove English, he said. The Assembly unanimously adopted a similar resolution on Dec.

6, 2006. The Union government said the Supreme Court’s full court declined that proposal in 2012 after consultation with the Chief Justice of India. Vijay urged reconsideration, citing advances in digital courts, Tamil legal resources and artificial-intelligence-enabled simultaneous translation.

Arun Janardhanan is an experienced and authoritative Tamil Nadu correspondent for The Indian Express. Based in the state, his reporting combines ground-level access with long-form clarity, offering readers a nuanced understanding of South India’s political, judicial, and cultural life - work that reflects both depth of expertise and sustained authority.

Expertise Geographic Focus: As Tamil Nadu Correspondent focused on politics, crime, faith and disputes, Janardhanan has been also reporting extensively on Sri Lanka, producing a decade-long body of work on its elections, governance, and the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings through detailed stories and interviews.

Key Coverage Areas: State Politics and Governance: Close reporting on the DMK and AIADMK, the emergence of new political actors such as actor Vijay’s TVK, internal party churn, Centre–State tensions, and the role of the Governor.

Legal and Judicial Affairs: Consistent coverage of the Madras High Court, including religion-linked disputes and cases involving state authority and civil liberties. Investigations: Deep-dive series on landmark cases and unresolved questions, including the Tirupati encounter and the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, alongside multiple investigative series from Tamil Nadu.

Culture, Society, and Crisis: Reporting on cultural organisations, language debates, and disaster coverage—from cyclones to prolonged monsoon emergencies—anchored in on-the-ground detail. His reporting has been recognised with the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Beyond journalism, Janardhanan is also a screenwriter; his Malayalam feature film Aarkkariyam was released in 2021. ... Read More