The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a batch of petitions challenging the sudden implementation of a revised three-language policy for Classes 9 and 10, after concerns were raised regarding logistical difficulties, lack of teachers and textbooks, and the impact on students in the middle of an ongoing academic session.
During the hearing, counsel appearing for the petitioners submitted that students across States had already chosen their language combinations and commenced the academic session when authorities abruptly decided to implement a new requirement mandating two “native languages” from July 1 itself, instead of from the 2029-30 academic year as originally indicated.
Illustrating the issue, counsel submitted that students in States such as Tamil Nadu, who had studied combinations like Tamil, English and French, would now be compelled to take an additional Indian language despite being in Class 9 already. Similar concerns were raised regarding students in Delhi and other States.
The petitioners also alleged severe logistical deficiencies, including the absence of textbooks and teachers. Referring to the implementation timeline, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal submitted:
“They say we don’t have textbooks because you have to implement in 15 days. Take the textbooks of the 6th and 8th standards.”
The Court further noted that apart from legal questions, there were substantial practical and logistical concerns involved. The Bench observed: “There are issues of hardship, inconvenience, lack of logistics support which have been raised here.”
At the same time, the Court indicated that the issue also involved broader constitutional and policy questions relating to language and choice. The Court further observed that differing views may exist on whether learning multiple languages strengthens federalism or infringes personal choice, and held that such questions would require detailed consideration.
On behalf of the Centre, ASG Aishwarya Bhati submitted that the policy and transitional arrangements would be justified before the Court and stated that there was “no question of making it hard on the students.”
The Supreme Court ultimately directed that the batch of matters be listed during the opening week after the summer vacation, around July 15-16, while permitting parties to place soft copies of their petitions and responses on record.