THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ACT, 1963
No. 19 OF 1963
[10 May 1963]
An Act to provide for the
languages which may be used for the official purposes of the Union, for
transaction of business in Parliament, for Central and State Acts and for
certain purposes in High Courts.
Be it
enacted by Parliament in the Fourteenth Year of the Republic of India as
follows:-
(1)
This Act may be called the Official Languages Act, 1963.
(2)
Section 3 shall come into force on the 26th day of January, 1965 and the
remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force on such date as the
Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint and
different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act.
In this Act, unless the context
otherwise requires,-
(a) "appointed day", in relation to section
3, means the 26th day of January, 1965 and in relation to any other provision
of this Act, means the day on which that provision comes into force;
(b) "Hindi" means Hindi in Devanagari
script.
Notwithstanding
the expiration of the period of fifteen years from the commencement of the
Constitution, the English language may, as from the appointed day, continue to
be used, in addition to Hindi,-
(a) for
all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately
before that day; and
(b) for
the transaction of business in Parliament.
Provided
that the English language shall be used for purposes of communication between
the Union and a State which has not adopted Hindi as its official language:
Provided
further that where Hindi is used for purposes of communication between one
State which has adopted Hindi as its official language and another State which
has not adopted Hindi as its official language, such communication in Hindi
shall be accompanied by a translation of the same in the English language:
Provided
also that nothing in this sub-section shall be construed as preventing a State
which has not adopted Hindi as its official language from using Hindi for
purposes of communication with the Union or with a State which has adopted
Hindi as its official language, or by agreement with any other State, and in
such a case, it shall not be obligatory to use the English language for
purposes of communication with that State.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where Hindi or the
English language is used for purposes of communication—
(i)
between one Ministry or Department or office of the Central Government and
another;
(ii)
between one Ministry or Department or office of the Central Government and any
corporation or company owned or controlled by the Central Government or any
office thereof;
(iii)
between any corporation or company owned or controlled by the Central
Government or any office thereof and another,
a
translation of such communication in the English language or, as the case may
be, in Hindi shall also be provided till such date as the staff of the
concerned Ministry, Department, office or corporation or company aforesaid have
acquired a working knowledge of Hindi.
(3)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), both Hindi and the
English language shall be used for—
(i)
resolutions, general orders, rules, notifications, administrative or other
reports or press communiques issued or made by the Central Government or by a
Ministry, Department or office thereof or by a corporation or company owned or
controlled by the Central Government or by any office of such corporation or
company;
(ii)
administrative and other reports and official papers laid before a House or the
Houses of Parliament;
(iii)
contracts and agreements executed, and licences, permits, notices and forms of
tender issued, by or on behalf of the Central Government or any Ministry,
Department or office thereof or by a corporation or company owned or controlled
by the Central Government or by any office of such corporation or company.
(4)
Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (1) or
sub-section (2) or sub-section (3), the Central Government may,
by rules made under section 8, provide for the language or languages to be used
for the official purpose of the Union, including the working of any Ministry,
Department, section or office, and in making such rules, due consideration
shall be given to the quick and efficient disposal of the official business and
the interests of the general public and in particular, the rules so made shall
ensure that persons serving in connection with the affairs of the Union and
having proficiency either in Hindi or in the English language may function
effectively and that they are not placed at a disadvantage on the ground that
they do not have proficiency in both the languages.
(5) The
provisions of clause (a) of sub-section (1), and the provisions
of sub-section (2), sub-section (3) and sub-section (4) shall
remain in force until resolutions for the discontinuance of the use of the
English language for the purposes mentioned therein have been passed by the
Legislatures of all the States which have not adopted Hindi as their official
language and until after considering the resolutions aforesaid, a resolution
for such discontinuance has been passed by each House of Parliament.]
(1)
After the expiration of ten years from the date on which section 3 comes into
force, there shall be constituted a Committee on Official Language, on a
resolution to that effect being moved in either House of Parliament with the
previous sanction of the President and passed by both Houses.
(2) The
Committee shall consist of thirty members, of whom twenty shall be members of
the House of the People and ten shall be members of the Council of States, to
be elected respectively by the members of the House of the People and the
members of the Council of States in accordance with the system of proportional
representation by means of the single transferable vote.
(3) It
shall be the duty of the Committee to review the progress made in the use of
Hindi for the official purposes of the Union and submit a report to the
President making recommendations thereon and the President shall cause the
report to be laid before each House of Parliament, and sent to all the State
Governments.
(4) The
President may, after consideration of the report referred to in sub-section (3),
and the views, if any, expressed by the State Governments thereon, issue
directions in accordance with the whole or any part of that report.
Provided that the directions so issued shall not be
inconsistent with the provisions of section 3.
(1) A
translation in Hindi published under the authority of the President in the
Official Gazette on and after the appointed day,
(a) of
any Central Act or of any Ordinance promulgated by the President, or
(b) of
any order, rule, regulation or bye-law issued under the Constitution or under
any Central Act,
shall
be deemed to be the authoritative text thereof in Hindi.
(2) As
from the appointed day, the authoritative text in English language of all Bills
to be introduced or amendments thereto to be moved in either House of
Parliament shall be accompanied by a translation of the same in Hindi
authorised in such manner as may be prescribed by rules made under this Act.
Where the Legislature of a State has
prescribed any language other than Hindi for use in Acts passed by the
Legislature of the State or in Ordinances promulgated by the Governor of the
State, a translation of the same in Hindi, in addition to a translation thereof
in the English language as required by clause (3) of article 348 of the
Constitution, may be published on or after the appointed day under the
authority of the Governor of the State in the Official Gazette of that State
and in such a case, the translation in Hindi of any such Act or Ordinance shall
be deemed to be the authoritative text thereof in the Hindi language.
As from the appointed day or any day thereafter, the Governor of a State may, with the previous consent of the President, authorise the use of Hindi or the official language of the State, in addition to the English language, for the purposes of any judgment, decree or order passed or made by the High Court for that State and where any judgment, decree or order is passed or made in any such language (other than the English language), it shall be accompanied by a translation of the same in the English language issued under the authority of the High Court.
(1)
The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules
for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(Note:
- Official Language Rule-1976 is made by this section)
(2) Every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.
The
provisions of section 6 and section 7 shall not apply to the State of Jammu and
Kashmir.
(This section is not in force after the abolishment of
Art-370 & 35 A)
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