Delhi HC issues notice to Centre in plea seeking recognition of Indian Sign Language

The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Central government in a petition seeking official recognition and approval for the Indian Sign Language, by incorporating it in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India..Indian Sign Language is a method by which users communicate with each other using hand gestures, hand movements, movements of body parts, and facial expressions. It is mostly used by the hearing/speech impaired community..A Division Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameswar Rao has directed the Central government to file its reply to the plea within four weeks..The writ petition filed by disability rights activist Nipun Malhotra states that the inclusion of Indian Sign Language in the Eighth Schedule would permit the hearing/speech impaired community to “feel a sense of inclusion within the larger national milieu”..Such recognition would permit its users to form associations and unions for its propagation and preservation, and also make it possible for them to seek public employment under Article 16 of the Constitution, the petitioner asserts..Filed through Advocate Siddharth Arora, the petition states that Article 14 of the Constitution “can be effectively read” to require that the Central government provide equal protection to languages which are used by disabled persons as well as non-disabled persons..It further states that a combined reading of Article 14, 19(1)(a) and Article 29 together create a binding right to not only recognize Indian Sign Language, but also mandates that the State should “take all steps to enforce the right of non-discrimination in respect of speech and expression and ensure the fundamental protection of Indian Sign Language“..The government, by not creating even a single policy framework to recognize this issue or to address it in any manner, “is fundamentally acting in a manner which is highly arbitrary, mischievous and beyond all reasonable expectations of non-discrimination”, the petition states..“There is not even an iota of government recognition which is granted to Indian Sign Language. As such, the present situation clearly violates the provisions of reasonableness and is contrary to the mandate of Article 15 of the Constitution.”.The petitioner also relies upon Section 16(4), Section 17 (f), Section 40 and Section 42(ii) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 to assert that the Central government must provide for recognition and protection of sign language..The incorporation of Indian Sign Language under Schedule Eighth of the Constitution, the petitioner hopes, would result in development of a uniform standard of sign language in India, having a common grammar pool. This could also be adopted for teaching curriculum in schools..The petitioner was represented by Advocates Jai A Dehadrai and Prashant Vaxish..The matter will next be heard on December 5..Read the order:.Read the petition:.Image taken from here.