The Patiala Court In Delhi has said that the courts in the New Delhi are suppose to record all the proceedings an the evidence along with details of the case in Hindi on request or if the need so arises.
The Patiala Court Principal District & Sessions Judge Justice Dharmesh Sharma, said that refusing to record evidence in Hindi is a gross violation of Section 272 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and Rule 1(b)(i) of the Delhi High Court Rules.It also added that
The State Government under Section 272 of the CrPC has the right to determine the language that can be used by the Court.
Hindi in Devnagri script shall be the language of the courts subordinate to the Delhi High Court is mentioned in the Rule 1(b)(i) of the Delhi High Court Rules.
Patiala Court has set aside an order which was passed by Metropolitan Magistrate Manu Shree in the case of refusal to recording evidence in Hindi.
The Metropolitan Magistrate who denied to record the plea Hindi reasoned that it was not understandable what the party was asking for .
However the judge said that the statement of the witnesses can be recorded on the computer desktop, which has Hindi Font by the Stenographer,, also a requisition for typist can be made if the stenographer is not proficient in Hindi.
The case in question is that the revisionist along with other co-accused were facing trial under section Sections 92 which is put for obstructing or annoying passengers in the street and Section 97 which is for Penalties for offences under sections 80 to 96 of the Delhi Police Act.
The Revisionist in the case requested the court for providing him the questions which were asked to him during cross examination in hindi along with the answers for the same also to be written in the Devanagari as he was well versed in the language.
On May 30, 2022, he filed an application for the same as he knew English could confuse him while replying.
The request was however declined by the Metropolitan Magistrate who said that his application could not be allowed due to certain logistical shortcomings.
Due to the refusal for Hindi recordings the present revision petition was filed.
The Magistrate’s order has been set aside by the Sessions Judge on the ground that the order was in palpable contravention to the Delhi High Court Rules and Section 272 of the CrPC.