Mr.Venkatesan v. The Principal Secretary

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED: 20.02.2023 CORAM :

THE HON'BLE MR.T.RAJA, ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE AND THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE D.BHARATHA CHAKRAVARTHY Venkatesan .. Petitioner Vs 1.The Principal Secretary, School Education Department, 37JM+FFP, Rina Road, Fort St. George, Chennai-600 009.

2.The Director, State Council for Educational Research & Training, DPI Campus, Subba Road Avenue, Nugambakkam, Chennai-600 006.

.. Respondents Prayer: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to act upon petitioner's representation dated 6.1.2023 and do the needful correction and delete the false facts in VII Standard School Tamil Book, Page No.52, "Mozhi Kolgai".

For the Petitioner : Mr.K.Seetha Ram For the Respondents : Mr.R.Shunmugasundaram Advocate-General assisted by Mr.P.Muthukumar State Government Pleader and Ms.A.G.Shakeena

ORDER

(Order of the court was made by the Hon'ble Acting Chief Justice) Mr.Venkatesan, claiming to be a writer, dalit and social activist, eking out a livelihood from writing books, has filed this writ petition styled as public interest litigation seeking issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to consider his representation dated 6.1.2013 and to do the needful correction and delete false facts stated in VII Standard School Tamil Book at Page No.52 "Mozhi Kolgai" within a time frame fixed by this Court.

2. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would submit that the petitioner, being a writer, had read many books and he had incidentally waded through the VII Standard School Tamil Book,

wherein under Chapter III "Ganyamigu Thalaivar", about Quaid-eMillath Mohammed Ali, an All India Muslim League Leader from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, it was printed that, in Constituent Assembly Debates, he expressed that the Tamil language has to be made the official language of our great nation. It is the specific case of the petitioner that Quaid-e-MIllath Mohammed Ali in the Constituent Assembly Debates was insisting upon Hindustani with Urdu and Devangari as script and not Tamil as the official language of the nation. Pointing out the aforesaid error that crept in the school book, the petitioner has submitted a detailed representation dated 6.1.2023 to the respondents. Despite receipt of the representation of the petitioner, the same has not been considered till date. Therefore, the petitioner has been advised to file the present writ petition for appropriate direction.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner, drawing our attention to the Constituent Assembly Debates, pleaded that, on one occasion, the leader Quaid-e-Millath has spoken clearly that Dravidian language was spoken first on the soil of this country and that is the

earliest language. Besides, Tamil language has got a rich literature of a high order and it is the most ancient language, which is his mother-tongue. Therefore, this must become an official language of the country. But, ultimately, the leader Quaid-e-Millath has made it clear that his proposal was that Hindustani with Urdu and Devanagari scripts must be accepted as the official language of the Union and the international form of Indian numerals must be made a permanent feature of that official language.

4. We have considered the submissions raised by learned counsel for the petitioner and also perused the materials available on record.

5. A perusal of the Constituent Assembly Debates shows that the leader Quaid-e-Millath had explicitly stated that Tamil, or to put it generally, the Dravidian languages are the earliest among the languages that are spoken on the soil of this country. He further opined that, if we go to the past, it is this language that must become the official language of the country. So, it cannot by any

stretch of imagination be pleaded by the petitioner that the leader Quaid-e-Millath did not speak in favour of making Tamil as the Official Language. Though the proposal made by the leader Quaide-Millath in the Constituent Assembly Debates ultimately is to the effect that Hindustani with Urdu and Devanagari scripts must be accepted as the official language of the Union, it does not mean that he did not speak in favour his mother-tongue Tamil. All along, in the Constituent Assembly Debates, he expressed his highest degree of love over the Tamil language and, at this stage, when much water has flown over the years with the enactment of the Official Languages Act, 1963, filing a writ petition as if the leader Quaid-eMillath never spoke in favour of the Tamil language is uncalled for.

That apart, the first edition of the book was published in the year 2019 and the petitioner has not shown any justification in approaching the court after lapse of almost 4 years. From a reading of the concerned passage of the book, it is clear that what is stated is about his mentioning of Tamil in his speech and not his ultimate proposal.

6. Accordingly, the writ petition is dismissed. There will be no order as to costs.

(T.R., ACJ.) (D.B.C., J.) 20.02.2023 Index :

Yes/No Yes/No bbr To:

1.The Principal Secretary, School Education Department, 37JM+FFP, Rina Road, Fort St. George, Chennai-600 009.

2.The Director, State Council for Educational Research & Training, DPI Campus, Subba Road Avenue, Nugambakkam, Chennai-600 006.

THE HON'BLE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE AND D.BHARATHA CHAKRAVARTHY, J.

bbr 20.02.2023