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As the immortal poet Bharathiyar said in a different context, it is one thing to maul and mutilate English language but murdering mother tongue is unacceptable, Justice Swaminathan said
The Madras High Court recently expressed concern over the fall in standards in Tamil usage. "We are not able to speak in chaste Tamil without a liberal mix of English words. At least our written language must be pure and free of errors," said the court.
While dealing with a writ petition pertaining to the petitioner's electricity service, the bench of Justice GR Swaminathan noted that in a letter sent by The Assistant Engineer, Operation and Distribution, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (TANGEDCO) to the petitioner, which was written in Tamil, last word had been incorrectly spelled.
"I expressed my surprise and called upon the standing counsel to contact the author of the letter and draw her attention. I was in for a double shock," the judge said.
He pointed out that the officer concerned could not spot the error and even after it was pointed out, she could not realize it.
Justice Swaminathan said that the concerned officer's Tamil teacher had probably not taught her the difference between the two letters.
While stating the two letters were called, even read differently, the judge emphasised that he dwelt on the issue because "the official communications must be grammatically and linguistically correct".
He also cited one such example of his wife's experience with the residential Office Assistant who bought some articles for her and in the balance amounts words were spelled incorrectly.
The judge also pointed out one case where a student had apologized in writing but the usage of the words were entirely wrong. "I should have dismissed the writ petition for having given such a letter. Mercifully I did not," Justice Swaminathan said.
"I am conscious that those living in glass houses should not throw stones at others. The certified copies of the orders signed by the High Court Judges often bristle with spelling and grammatical errors. But as the immortal poet Bharathiyar said in a different context, it is one thing to maul and mutilate English language but murdering mother tongue is unacceptable," he added.
Regarding the case at hand, court ordered the concerned authorities to take action on the representation filed by the petitioner for a defect in his electricity meter.
Case Title: E.Anver Ali v. The Superintending Engineer, TANGEDCO and Others
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