JUDGMENT 1. THE petitioner is a citizen of India. He feels aggrieved by the fact that the Gazette of India is being published, on and from January 26, 1965, with the caption in Hindi "bharat Ka Rajpatra". According to the petitioner the aforesaid words mean "india's Royal Epistle". In paragraph 3 of the petition, the petitioner says "the said expression, assuming royalty, is highly insulting and derogatory to the dignity of the said Democratic Republic and destructive of the said republic and repugnant to the Constitution of India and particularly to the preamble of the said Constitution. " with the aforesaid grievance the petitioner has moved this Court and prays for an order upon the Union of India restraining it from using the said "offensive expression"-Bharat Ka Rajpatra-on the Gazette of India. 2. MR. Bireswar Bhattacharyya, learned Advocate for the petitioner, argued the case with very great devotion and contended that the word "raj" always carried with it the impress of royalty and was a most inappropriate expression for being used in respect of Government publications or documents in a democratic country like India and the Government must be restrained from using such undemocratic expression in its official publications or documents. He went further and contended that apart from impropriety, the use of the expression was insulting and derogatory to the dignity of the Republic of India and a Government must not be permitted to insult its own country in the manner alleged. I am unable to uphold the contentions of Mr. Bhattacharyya. In all monarchical countries, governmental institutions rotate round the king and state papers generally bear the royal impress upon them. King's title begins by force, which time wears off or mellows into right. Those on whom the King rules learn to respect the right and they are themselves fashioned according to the example of their king. The effect of monarchical rule even reflects upon the language. So it did in India, so long as this country had a monarchical form of Government. The word Rajan (a Sanskrit word) was primarily referable to the monarch. The capital came to be known as Rajadhani, because the king used to reign from that place. Servants of the King, whatever their status, came to be described under the generic name of Rajapurasha. The official language, generally the language of the King, used to be called the Rajabhasa. The capital came to be known as Rajadhani, because the king used to reign from that place. Servants of the King, whatever their status, came to be described under the generic name of Rajapurasha. The official language, generally the language of the King, used to be called the Rajabhasa. Royal representatives in foreign countries for example ambassadors, used to be called Rajaduta. Offences of treason against the King came to be called as rajadroha. As time went on the word Raj acquired a secondary meaning, namely, a word merely indicative of majesty and power. Thus, the swan, majestic in its gait, came to be known as Rajahanasa. 3. THE powerful King cobra, which feeds upon snakes, was given the name of Rajasarpa. Galloping Phthisis, once an incurable disease, became known as Raja jaksha. Traditions die hard. Old ideas rule from the grave. Even after India became a democratic Republic, it was not thought necessary to do away with all institutions which came into existence in monarchical times or all kinds of documents issued under that form of Government. It was not thought necessary to obliterate the word Raj wherever appearing, for a two-fold reason, firstly because of respect for traditional names and, secondly, because of the extended meaning, which in course of time came to be attached to the word Raj, having no nexus with royalty. The word Raj in this extended sense also became synonymous with Government. The present day Rajapurshas are Government servants and the Raja Bhavan is no longer a royal palace but the abode of the Governor. It is not for nothing that Johnson observed: "The common people do not accurately adapt their thoughts to objects ; nor, secondly, do they adapt their words to their thoughts ; they do not mean to lie, but taking no pains to be exact they give you very false accounts. A great part of their language is proverbial; if anything rocks at all, they say it rocks like a cradle; and in this way they go on. " 4. I am, therefore, of the opinion that) the word Rajpatra does not necessarily mean a periodical published under the authority of the King. It may as well mean a periodical published under the authority of the Government. " 4. I am, therefore, of the opinion that) the word Rajpatra does not necessarily mean a periodical published under the authority of the King. It may as well mean a periodical published under the authority of the Government. If that is the position, then the apprehension of the petitioner that the use of the expression must be insulting and derogatory to the dignity of the Sovereign Democratic Republic of India vanishes. Under Article 343 of the Constitution-" (1) The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. (2) Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), for a period of fifteen years from the commencement of this Constitution, the English language shall continue to be used for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before such commencement : provided that the President may, during the said period, by order authorise the use of the Hindi language in addition to the English language and of the Devanagari form of numerals in addition to the international form of Indian numerals for any of the official purposes of the Union. (3) Notwithstanding anything in this article, Parliament may by law provide for the use, after the said period of fifteen years, of- (a) the English language, or (b) the Devanagari form of numerals, for such purposes as may be specified in the law. In order to advance the aspiration of making Hindi the official language of the Union, one day or other, Article 351 of the Constitution further provides : "It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindusthani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule, and by drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on sanskrit and secondarily on other languages," Fifteen years from the commencement of the Constitution have elaspsed. Attempts are being made by some, not without protests from others, of making Hindi the official language, as far as possible, without delay. Attempts are being made by some, not without protests from others, of making Hindi the official language, as far as possible, without delay. Somebody, in his enthusiasm to develop the Hindi language, has thought of a Hindi synonym for the words "gazette of India" and appears to have coined an equivalent in the words "bhabat Ka Rajpatra. " It may be possible to dispute the correctness of the translation or the chastity of the expression, but by trying to coin an equivalent for the expression of 'gazette of India' and by adding that translation as a caption on the Gazette of India nothing has been done which imports ideas of royalty in this country or insults the Constitution of India. In the view that I take, I dismiss this application.