Citing the Official Languages Act, the Madras High Court has directed the Centre to give reply in English if the representation is made in the said language, saying it was the "duty" of the union government to do so.
Justices N Kirubakaran and M Duraisamy, responding to a PIL filed by Madurai CPI-M MP Su Venkatesan said that according to the Constitution, every person was entitled to give representation in any language used in the Union or the state.
The Official Languages Act also says the same, they said on Thursday.
"It is the duty of the union government to reply in English if representation was given in that language," the bench said.
In his plea, the MP had sought a direction to the Centre that it should use only English language in all communication between Central and state governments. He had earlier received reply in Hindi from the Union Home Ministry in response to a query regarding setting up examination centres for CRPF recruitment in Tamil Nadu.
In a tweet, Mr Venkatesan said the court had directed that if elected representatives write to the Centre in English, the reply should be given only in the same language.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Mayawati Aide, Hacked To Death, Cannot Be Buried In BSP Office: Court "Hooch Victims Not Freedom Fighters": Plea Opposes Rs 10 Lakh Compensation Treat Transgenders As Special Category For Employment, Education: High Court Windows Computers Leading To 'Blue Screen Of Death' Due To This Error Explained: What Is Causing The Dreaded 'Blue Screen Of Death' On Windows? Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down "Macrohard >> Microsoft": Elon Musk Takes A Dig At Microsoft Amid Outage 10 Health Benefits Of Tree Tea Oil Riots Break Out In London, Bus Set On Fire, Police Car Flipped Over Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.