How Important Is English?

The short answer: very. Law is also taught in the vernacular medium, but there are challenges.

- Pritha Roy Choudhury

Sagar Pattanashetti’s dream is to become a judge but he fears his chances might be slim. The third-semester student of B.V. Bellad Law College in Karnataka’s Belgaum district is studying law in his mother tongue, Kannada. “I want to become a judge but I’m finding it tough,” he said. “I studied in Kannada medium all through but feel I need to know English well. Once I am through with my semester examinations, I will take coaching next year to improve my English.”

Pattanashetti’s concerns are valid. Without the basic skills in English, a lawyer who has studied in a vernacular medium can only go so far. While practicing law in the local language helps certain groups of clients, the lawyer himself has to be reconciled to spending his entire career practicing in the lower courts. For judges, knowing English is almost essential.

The most recent iteration of the draft National Education Policy 2019 suggests that state law colleges consider o‹ering bilingual education for future lawyers and judges – in English and in the language of the specific state. The document says: “A host of measures will be undertaken such as, inducting teachers who are well versed in the regional language as well as English, making text books and study materials available in both languages, and allowing examinees to write their examination in either medium”. This, the draft education policy argues, will “alleviate delay in legal outcomes consequent to need for translation”.

Legal education has been imparted in regional languages by some colleges for over three decades. But opportunities for these students have not expanded.

English and legal studies