ગુજરાતી
English
January 24, 2026
Ahmedabad: The High Court has rejected a petitioner’s plea to argue his case in Gujarati. The High Court stated that in the suo motu case of Manish Kanaiyalal Gupta and others, the Division Bench had held that the official language of the High Court is English. Therefore, the presentation of the case must be in English.
It cannot be in any language other than English. In this case, the petitioner had challenged a certificate issued by the High Court Committee refusing him permission to argue his case as a party before the court because he did not know English.
The bench of Justice Aniruddha P. Mayi dismissed the petition and upheld the certificate issued by the High Court Committee in August 2025, which stated that the petitioner was unable to present his case himself.
This was because he was unable to present his case in English. The High Court held that there was no infirmity in the certificate issued by the respondents. The Division Bench of the High Court has held that no party can personally address the court in any language other than English.
Especially not until their eligibility is certified by the committee. In this case, the respondents’ committee also observed that the petitioner’s educational qualification is Standard 10. He does not understand English. He cannot express himself in English, and his thoughts are not clear.
He cannot explain the facts in English, and therefore he cannot personally address the court. Therefore, at this stage, he is advised to engage a lawyer of his choice or contact the High Court Legal Services Committee.
A similar incident occurred in a previous case
August 2022
Amritlal Parmar, a senior citizen from Rajkot, has been fighting a legal battle in the Gujarat High Court for five years to argue his case in Gujarati. The rules in the Gujarat High Court changed in 2016. After 2016, speaking and understanding English became mandatory. Before 2016, if someone wanted to argue their own case, English was not mandatory. At that time, Parmar had argued 25 cases in Gujarati.
The Gujarat Assembly has passed a law stating that transactions in Gujarat should only be conducted in Gujarati. Hindi is the second language, not English.
In India, arguments in the High and Supreme Courts can only be conducted in English. After filing a petition in the Gujarat High Court, he wanted to represent himself as a party to the case instead of hiring a lawyer.
Amritlal Parmar’s request to argue in Gujarati was initially rejected by a single-judge bench and a two-judge bench of the Gujarat High Court. Now, a bench headed by the Chief Justice of the High Court has reserved its judgment.
Amritlal Parmar, who has studied up to the 10th grade, runs a moneylending business in Rajkot. Instead of hiring a lawyer, he wanted to represent himself as a party to the case. He wanted to present his oral arguments in Gujarati.
However, the Registrar of the Gujarat High Court objected to Amritlal Parmar’s request. He refused to issue him the necessary fitness certificate to represent himself in court.
This certificate is required for a litigant who does not wish to avail the services of a lawyer and wants to argue their own case.
The Gujarat High Court Registry rejected Amritlal Parmar’s request for the certificate on the grounds that he did not have knowledge of the English language. According to the Gujarat High Court rules, submissions can be made in English.
Amritlal Parmar challenged the Registry’s decision to deny the certificate in August 2017. He initiated a legal battle to obtain permission to argue in Gujarati.
Amritlal Parmar claims that there is no legal rule that prevents him from arguing in Gujarati.
His petition was dismissed in December 2017. Following this, Amritlal Parmar appealed before a two-judge bench, which was also dismissed in 2018. Last week, Amritlal Parmar filed a petition to set a hearing date on this issue before appearing before the Chief Justice’s bench. The Gujarat High Court has reserved its judgment on the matter.
The Gujarat High Court has its own rules regarding court proceedings. According to Rule 37 of the Gujarat High Court Rules, you can submit your arguments in writing in Gujarati.
The court will arrange for translation by a court translator. According to Article 348 of the Indian Constitution, the language of the High and Supreme Courts shall be English, but if the Governor issues a notification, Gujarati can be used as a second recognized language.
The Governor of Gujarat has not issued any such notification. This issue has already been decided. A two-judge bench of the Gujarat High Court has already ruled on this matter.
The Gujarat High Court adheres to the Indian Constitution and the rules of procedure, therefore you can submit written arguments in Gujarati, but you cannot present oral arguments in Gujarati.
According to Rule 31(a) of the Gujarat High Court Rules, when issuing a certificate for presenting oral arguments, you are asked about your ability to understand and speak English. If you cannot speak and understand English, you will not receive the certificate.
The judges are not Gujarati speakers, so they do not understand Gujarati well. The judge asked Amritlal Parmar to argue in Hindi. Amritlal Parmar agreed to argue in Hindi and did so.
Regarding the previous decision on this matter, the court had already issued a notice. Therefore, the court has reserved its order.The court had also asked Amritlal Parmar to avail of legal aid, but Amritlal Parmar refused the assistance. Amritlal has several cases against him; this is not just about one case, which is why he doesn’t want to accept legal aid. He has been fighting Dhirdhar’s cases himself in every court for the past 20 years. There are 25 cases in total. (Google translation from Gujarati; see original Gujarati text)
