The Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) over the absence of a Hindi translation—”Sarvoch Nyayalaya”—for the “Supreme Court” metro station on its signage, particularly in the Devanagari script.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by petitioner Umesh Sharma, who objected to the exclusive use of “Supreme Court” on station signage, despite the official language norms mandating bilingual usage.
Arguing through counsel, the petitioner contended that in accordance with the Official Languages Act and related rules, all manuals, nameplates, and signage in Central Government institutions and public facilities are required to be displayed in both English and Hindi, with Hindi in Devanagari script.
Drawing a comparative example, the petitioner highlighted that the nearby “Central Secretariat” station is named “Kendriya Sachivalaya” in Hindi. He further pointed out that the Supreme Court itself refers to its Hindi name as “भारत का सर्वोच्च न्यायालय” (Bharat ka Sarvoch Nyayalaya) on its official website.
The petitioner also informed the court that the DMRC had earlier adopted the name “Supreme Court” following a communication from the Supreme Court administration, which had proposed that exact nomenclature. The petitioner’s counsel criticized this as a case of “laziness to translate,” urging the DMRC to consult the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Department of Official Language (Rajbhasha Vibhag) if it faced difficulty with translation.
“They are too lazy to translate. They can go to the Ministry of Home Affairs. There is a Raj Bhasha department. They can get it translated if they have some problem. They are distorting Hindi language,” the counsel submitted.
The Bench directed the Central Government’s counsel to seek appropriate instructions regarding the feasibility and rationale behind not using “Sarvoch Nyayalaya” for Hindi signage at the metro station named after the Supreme Court.
The matter is now listed for further hearing on February 19.
