Shillong: The Meghalaya High Court has directed both the Centre and the state government to clarify whether the recommendations made in 2016 by the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities regarding the welfare of linguistic minority communities in the state have been implemented.
The directive came during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Meghalaya Linguistic Minority Development Forum, which has been advocating for the rights and recognition of non-Khasi and non-Garo speaking communities in the state.
The Forum pointed out that besides the major languages—Khasi and Garo—a sizable number of residents in Meghalaya speak Bengali, Nepali, Hindi, Assamese, and several other languages.
The recommendations made by the Commissioner in the report dated March 29, 2016, included official translation of government documents into minority languages, the creation of language preference registers in schools, and state support for educational institutions using minority languages.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice I. P. Mukerji and Justice W. Diengdoh has asked both the Union and state governments to submit their responses before the next hearing, scheduled for July 10, 2025.
“We direct learned counsel for the Union of India and the State to take suitable instructions in the matter with regard to the status of the report of the Commissioner dated 29th March, 2016 and report to this Court before the returnable date,” the bench ordered.
The petitioner’s counsel also urged the court to direct the state to establish a Board for Linguistic Welfare—another key recommendation in the 2016 report.
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In response, the counsel for the government argued that the recommendations made by the Commissioner are not binding and must be vetted by the President of India and ratified by Parliament to take effect.
The Court has now sought comprehensive updates from both governments, including the steps taken or reasons for inaction, ahead of the next hearing.
