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TMI Blog2024 (8) TMI 458X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... indi and English shall be used for all documents referred to in Section 3(3) of the Act and it shall be the responsibility of the persons signing such documents to ensure that such documents are made, executed or issued both in Hindi and in English. Apart from this, Rule 3(3) of the Rules stipulates that communications from a Central Government Office to a State or Union territory in region C or to any office (not being a Central Government office) or person in such State shall be in English. Thus there are clear guidelines to officers working in Central Government offices, in region C (within which the State of Andhra Pradesh is situated) that all communications to persons residing in such a region, should normally be in English. However, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , it may be stated that this judgment is not on the merits of any of the three cases and is only dealing with the question of whether the appellate order under Section 107 of the CGST Act, 2017 can be issued, in the State of Andhra Pradesh, in Hindi only. 4. In all these three cases, the petitioners had approached the Commissioner (Appeals) under Section 107 of the CGST Act for redressing their grievances. The Commissioner (Appeals), in these three cases, passed orders, whose details are given below: Writ Petition No. Proceedings No. Date of Order W.P.No.13043/2024 VIZ-GST 001-APP-005-2023-24 16.01.2024 W.P.No.13046/2024 VIZ-GST 001-APP-005-2023-24 16.01.2024 W.P.No.14904/2024 GUN-GST-000-APP-019-2023-24 06.02.2024 5. The Commissioner (Appe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an associate language. d) Article 344 of the Constitution of India provides that for the Constitution of an Official Languages Commission, whose recommendations are to be placed before the President for progressive introduction of Hindi for official purposes. e) The Presidential Order, dated 02.07.2008, had accepted, one such recommendation of the Official Languages Commission, requiring 20% of the work to be carried out in Hindi, in regions categorised as C region. Since Andhra Pradesh falls in C region, all the officers, including the Commissioner (Appeals), are required to carry out 20% of their work in Hindi and consequently, orders are being passed by the Commissioner (Appeals) in Hindi. f) The Commissioner (Appeals) also states that t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... appointed under Clause 4 of Article 344 to examine the recommendations of the Commission constituted under Article 344 in relation to a complete changeover to Hindi by 26.01.1965. This Committee, after considering the views expressed by various persons, had expressed its opinion that complete changeover to Hindi, by 26.01.1965 was not practicable and that a provision should be made, in pursuance of Article 344 (4) of the Constitution, for continued use of English, even after 1965 for the purposes to be specified by the Parliament, by law, as long as may be necessary. This approach was accepted by the Government and the Official Language Act, 1963 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ) was enacted. 10. Section 3 of the Act states that notwith ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssued both in Hindi and in English. 12. Apart from this, Rule 3(3) of the Rules stipulates that communications from a Central Government Office to a State or Union territory in region C or to any office (not being a Central Government office) or person in such State shall be in English. 13. A reading of these provisions would make it clear that any communications of a Central Government office requires to be in both Hindi and English normally. However, any communication from a Central Government office to any person in region C shall be in English. 14. The aforesaid provisions offer clear guidelines to officers working in Central Government offices, in region C (within which the State of Andhra Pradesh is situated) that all communications t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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