Expedite work to provide font size for Devanagari signboards at par with English at Mumbai Airport: HC to MIAL

The MIAL accepted that the font size for Devanagari text was small and all efforts are being made to bring the same on par with English signboards. The court said the work will have to be carried out in the Mumbai airport area as soon as possible.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin M Jamdar and Justice Arif S Doctor was hearing a plea by the Gujarati Vichar Manch (GVM), a trust which sought the implementation of two circulars issued by the Union Home Ministry’s Department of Official Languages, directing the use of Hindi and the regional language on par with the English language on signboards and indicators at public places.

GVM had claimed that the respondent authorities failed to implement the circulars, despite repeated representations and requests by it. The PIL said English was important, given its current global status, but ‘recognition of regional languages was also important’.

On Wednesday, MIAL counsel informed the bench that the work related to changing font size signage has started, which will be done by 2024. It accepted that font size for Devnagri script was small and all efforts were being made to bring the font signage on par with the English font. The MIAL lawyer said that the execution of its undertaking will take time.

” The work will have to be carried out in the Mumbai airport area as soon as possible. We defer hearing to Nov 8, 2023 by which time we expect substantial work will be completed,” the bench noted.