Article 348(2) and the long-standing Tamil Nadu request to use Tamil in the Madras High Court

Background

This backgrounder is tied to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's demand on 11 October 2026 that Tamil be made the principal language of proceedings in the Madras High Court. Article 348(1)(a) of the Constitution provides that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court shall be in English. Under Article 348(2), the Governor of a State may, with the previous consent of the President, authorise the use of Hindi or the State's official language in proceedings of its High Court. Hindi was authorised in the High Court of Rajasthan in 1950, and later in Uttar Pradesh (1969), Madhya Pradesh (1971) and Bihar (1972) in consultation with the Chief Justice of India. A Cabinet Committee decision of 21.05.1965 requires the consent of the Chief Justice of India for any such proposal. Tamil Nadu's proposal for Tamil was not accepted by the Full Court of the Supreme Court in 2012 and again in 2016.