South Indians don’t want to be isolated because they don’t know Hindi: Supreme Court judge B.V. Nagarathna

South Indians do not want to be isolated because they do not know Hindi, Supreme Court judge BV Nagarathna said on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.

Responding to a question on the use of Hindi in the judiciary, Justice Nagarathna stated that he was not referring to politics and said that India is a subcontinent and one cannot be too exclusive in one’s own language.

He said that there are many languages ​​in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution and there are at least six languages ​​in South India.

Justice Nagarathna said no one can be too privileged in his own language and English is what binds different South Indian states together.

He said if you go to Tamil Nadu, no one speaks English or Hindi and communication is a problem.

“How can I speak? You have to understand India as a subcontinent. I am not interested in politics here. In district courts, we have our own languages ​​like Kannada, Tamil, etc. In constitutional courts, English is the official language.”

“Otherwise, how will we transfer judges to different high courts? Please be a little restrained in this regard. It is necessary to be restrained in saying this because we (South Indians) do not want to be alone because we do not know Hindi. Coming from the south, I am also saying this,” he said.

His response came after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant responded to a question from a woman lawyer about the steps he has taken for lawyers who are fluent in their local languages ​​but do not speak English.