137. Language of subordinate Courts.—(1) The language which, on the commencement of this Code, is the language of any Court subordinate to a High Court shall continue to be the language of such subordinate Court until the State Government otherwise directs.
(2) The State Government may declare what shall be the language of any such Court and in what character applications to and proceedings in such Courts shall be written.
(3) Where this Court requires or allows anything other that the recording of evidence to be done in writing in any such Court, such writing may be in English; but if any party or his pleader is unacquainted with English a translation into the language of the Court shall, at his request, be supplied to him; and the Court shall make such order as it thinks fit in respect of the payment of the costs of such translation.
State amendments
Rajasthan Amendment of section 137, Central Act V of 1908.-In section 137 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act V of 1908), in its application to the State of Rajasthan, for sub-section (3), the following sub-section
shall be substituted, namely:- “(3) Wherever this Code requires or allows anything other than the recording of evidence to be done in writing in any such court, such writing shall be in Hindi in Devnagri Script with the interna- tional form of Indian numerals :
Provided that the court may in its discretion accept such writing in English on the undertaking of the party filing such writing, to file a Hindi translation of the same, within such time as may be granted by the court and the opposite party shall have a right to have a copy of such writing in Hindi.”
[Vide Rajasthan Act 7 of 1983, s. 2]