Bombay HC upholds govt rule on shop names in Marathi

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said the Maharashtra government's rule mandating shops and establishments display their names in Marathi (in the Devanagari script) was reasonable and refused to quash it. Viren Shah, the president of Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA), said they will appeal the same in the Supreme Court. The court dismissed the petition filed by FRTWA and imposed cost of Rs 25,000 on it.

Shah said, "This order is against the Constitution. We are allowed to express in whichever language we want. We respect the order but as per our right to appeal against the Bombay High Court order, we will seek appropriate legal advice and go to the Supreme Court. The debate has always been about the font size of shops' names. FRTWA has always respected the fact that displaying Marathi font is mandatory, and living in this state and in Mumbai, we abide by it. The objection is only against the size of the font used."

Viren Shah, Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association

"We are not forcing any shops to write their names bigger on their boards, in certain areas like Lalbaug and in Dadar they are bigger than those in English or Hindi. But on 70 per cent of the shops in Mumbai, the English signs are in a bigger size due to the cosmopolitan nature of the city. Also, our trademarks or logos have been registered in English, they are identified, advertised and marketed in that language."

The petition had challenged an amendment to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, as per which all shops and establishments have to display signboards of their names in Marathi, the font of which shall be the same as that of the other script and not smaller.

"We are not engaging in any politics or have vested interests. We have mentioned in our brief earlier as well, that every time election approach, there is an attempt to engage in vote bank politics by raking up some or the other issue like these. We have many Muslims and Marathi-speaking traders and customers as well, apart from Marwaris and Gujaratis, and 30 per cent of our customers are NRIs. We are merely saying, let us run the businesses as per customers' and shopkeepers' needs," added Shah.

‘For benefit of workers and people'

"Marathi maybe the official language of the state government, but it is also undeniably the common language and mother tongue of the state. It has own rich and diverse cultural heritage extending to literature and theatre. The petition fails to recognise that this requirement is not meant to benefit retail traders, but it is for benefit of workers therein and the public who approach them. These are persons who are more likely to be familiar with Marathi in Devnagari script. To say that there is some sort of invidious discrimination is wholly untrue. If any retailer wishes to carry out trade in Maharashtra, it shall be subject to rules that the government imposes on all," the division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar observed.

The bench also questioned the motive behind filing of the petition in 2022 when the amendment in the Act was carried out in 2018. "The rule was existing even prior to that (2018). Only its implementation was stayed," Justice Patel said.

The court further said there were some states in India which mandate the use of only local language and script, which was not the case in Maharashtra.

‘It is the official state language'

Shiv Sena spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP, Priyanka Chaturvedi said "Shiv Sena has been very clear right from the start that every shop and establishment in Maharashtra should have a Marathi signboard. Are people now trying to accuse the Bombay High Court of playing games for BMC elections? That is unfortunate. If they are living in Maharashtra and it is the official state language, why should anyone have a problem putting it on their board? Every single state, not just Maharashtra, should respect their official language(s). As far as the logos and trademarks are concerned, at the time of designing, Marathi can be easily incorporated and not including the state language cannot be an excuse. The sentiments need to be respected whole-heartedly."

Sandeep Deshpande, senior functionary and MNS spokesperson, said "The court has taken the correct stand and every state has its own rules and languages and the regional languages must be promoted. Our states have been formed on the basis of linguistic majorities. Marathi is the mother tongue and official language spoken here. Putting up big Marathi font boards is something the retail association should follow. If they use all the benefits of the state, then they should follow the rule of the land. Where did they get the data of 70 per cent of their customers being from a cosmopolitan background that they claim, and what is its authenticity? Out of 13 crore people, 11 crore in Maharashtra speak the language. Also, by opposing and refusing to comply, the association is messing with the locals and that is not good for their business."

With inputs from agencies