PIL before Delhi High Court says Hindi name of Supreme Court metro station should be 'Sarvochh Nyayalay'

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) about why the Hindi name of Supreme Court metro station should not be Sarvochh Nyayalay (सर्वोच्च न्यायालय). 

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia asked counsel appearing for the DMRC to obtain instructions on the issue. 

The Court added that if the Delhi University metro station's Hindi name is Vishwavidyalaya and Central Secretariat metro station carries the Hindi name Kendriya Sachivalaya, why the same cannot be done for Supreme Court. 

“You [DMRC counsel] will let your officials know that if  Central Secretariat can be translated into Hindi, Delhi University can be translated, Supreme Court cannot be inscribed as Sarvochh Nyayalay,” the Court remarked. 

The Court said that the matter will be heard next on February 19.

The Bench passed the direction while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by one Umesh Sharma. 

The counsel appearing for the petitioner stated that the Supreme Court metro station was earlier called Pragati Maidan. However, when the name was changed to Supreme Court, it is written as “Supreme Court” in Roman script and “सुप्रीमकोर्ट” in Devanagari script. 

He stated that this is a violation of the Official Languages Act, 1963 and the Officials Language Rules, 1976. 

Meanwhile, the counsel appearing for the DMRC told the Court that the name of the Supreme Court metro station has been inscribed as proposed by the Supreme Court.