The Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has sanctioned a budget of Rs. 6,47,320 and this was approved for purchasing the translation software for translating the Supreme Court and Bombay HC English judgments to Marathi. The resolution for the same was passed on the 1st of August, 2023 and it got approved and cleared for the purpose of purchasing Google Translator and Microsoft family software. The request for a budget to purchase the translation software was made to the Maharashtra State Government by the Artificial Intelligence Assistant Legal Translation Committee.
Alongside the budget approval, the government also consented for the creation of nearly 300 posts for junior interpreters and translators at the appellate branch of the Bombay HC. The said resolution made it clear that the candidates for the posts can be appointed through an external mechanism considering retired judicial officers, Bar Council and University approved advocates, law students and teachers, and other experts who may be found to be eligible for the post. It was stated that the translators’ entitlement to payment will be Rs. 100 per page. However, the government specifically notified that it shall neither be concerned nor responsible for such employees appointed through the said external mechanism.
Previously the High Court of Bombay had taken the initiative to translate judgements into Marathi from English in March 2023. It has also dedicated a distinct section of its webpage called ‘Nivadak Nirnay’ to upload selected judgments on the site. CJI D. Y. Chandrachud also stated on 15th of August, 2023 that the SC had translated nearly 9423 English judgements into 14 regional languages. Followingly, the Tamil Nadu government has also announced that Rs. 3 crores will be allocated to the State Official Language (Legislative) Commission to translate the English judgements to Tamil.
Written by – Vaishnavi N of Alliance School of Law, Alliance University, Bengaluru (3rd semester) , An intern under Legal Vidhiya
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