Article 346 of the Constitution of India decides the language in which one State writes to another State, and in which a State and the Union (the Central Government) write to each other. It says that this “official language for communication” is “the language for the time being authorised for use in the Union for official purposes”. Today that means Hindi in Devanagari script and, alongside it, English, which Section 3 of the Official Languages Act, 1963 continues for the Union’s official purposes. A proviso adds that two or more States may agree to use Hindi between themselves.
Article 346 does not name a language of its own. The details come from the Official Languages Act, 1963 (English between the Union and a State that has not adopted Hindi) and the Official Language Rules, 1976, which sort States and Union territories into Regions A, B and C for letters sent by Central Government offices.
Article 346 at a glance
- What it says: the language authorised for the Union’s official purposes is the official language for communication between States, and between a State and the Union.
- Which language that is: Hindi in Devanagari script (Article 343(1)), with English continued “in addition to Hindi” by Section 3(1) of the Official Languages Act, 1963.
- The proviso: if two or more States agree that Hindi should be the language between them, Hindi may be used for that communication.
- Union and a non-Hindi State: English “shall be used” (first proviso to Section 3(1) of the 1963 Act), unless that State chooses Hindi (third proviso).
- Hindi State to non-Hindi State: a letter in Hindi must carry an English translation (second proviso to Section 3(1)).
- Regions A, B and C: Central Government offices write to Region A in Hindi, to Region B ordinarily in Hindi and to Region C in English (Rule 3 of the Official Language Rules, 1976), subject to the Act’s provisos (Section 3(4)). Delhi is in Region A.
- Where it sits: Part XVII (Official Language), Chapter II (Regional Languages), between Articles 345 and 347; in force since 26 January 1950, with no amendment.
Reviewed and updated by Century Law Firm, Delhi – October 2026. Statutory references are to the Acts as in force on that date. The Constitution is quoted from the Legislative Department’s English edition (as on 10 September 2026) and its official Hindi Version (as on 1 May 2024), and the Official Languages Act, 1963 (as on 6 July 2026, with its official Hindi text) and the Official Languages (Use for Official Purposes of the Union) Rules, 1976 (as amended in 1987, 2007 and 2011) from India Code.
Article 346 of the Indian Constitution: the exact text
Article 346, as printed in the Legislative Department’s edition of the Constitution of India (as on 10 September 2026), reads:
“346. Official language for communication between one State and another or between a State and the Union.—The language for the time being authorised for use in the Union for official purposes shall be the official language for communication between one State and another State and between a State and the Union:
Provided that if two or more States agree that the Hindi language should be the official language for communication between such States, that language may be used for such communication.”
The article carries no amendment footnote: it reads today as it did when the Constitution was adopted. The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on “the twenty-sixth day of November, 1949” (the Preamble), hence the year 1949 in this page’s earlier title. Article 394 brought a short list of articles into force at once and “the remaining provisions”, Article 346 among them, on 26 January 1950.
Article 346 in Hindi: the official text (अनुच्छेद 346)
The official Hindi text of the Constitution, published by the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice (भारत का संविधान, Hindi Version, as on 1 May 2024), gives Article 346 as follows:
“346. एक राज्य और दूसरे राज्य के बीच या किसी राज्य और संघ के बीच पत्रादि की राजभाषा— संघ में शासकीय प्रयोजनों के लिए प्रयोग किए जाने के लिए तत्समय प्राधिकृत भाषा, एक राज्य और दूसरे राज्य के बीच तथा किसी राज्य और संघ के बीच पत्रादि की राजभाषा होगी:
परन्तु यदि दो या अधिक राज्य यह करार करते हैं कि उन राज्यों के बीच पत्रादि की राजभाषा हिन्दी भाषा होगी तो ऐसे पत्रादि के लिए उस भाषा का प्रयोग किया जा सकेगा ।”
“पत्रादि” is the word used for “communication” (letters and other correspondence), “तत्समय प्राधिकृत भाषा” is “the language for the time being authorised”, and “करार” is the “agreement” in the proviso. Article 394A of the Constitution, inserted in 1987, provides for an authoritative text of the Constitution in Hindi, published under the President’s authority.
What Article 346 means, in plain words
Article 346 covers official correspondence between one State and another, and between a State and the Union (in either direction). Whatever language is authorised for the Union’s own work also becomes the link language between governments.
The proviso, under which States may agree to use Hindi between themselves, is not limited to Hindi-speaking States; any two or more States may make such an agreement. It also only permits Hindi; it does not oblige any State to use it.
Article 346 does not decide the language a State uses inside its own administration: under Article 345 a State Legislature “may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi”. Nor does it govern court proceedings (Article 348) or the language in which a person may submit a representation for redress of a grievance (Article 350). Article 345 itself is “Subject to the provisions of articles 346 and 347”.
Where Article 346 sits: Part XVII, Articles 343 to 351
Part XVII of the Constitution, headed “Official Language”, has four chapters: the language of the Union (Articles 343 and 344), regional languages (Articles 345 to 347), the language of the Supreme Court, High Courts and laws (Articles 348 and 349), and special directives (Articles 350 to 351). The table summarises each article from the 2026 text.
| Article | Heading | What it provides |
|---|---|---|
| 343 | Official language of the Union | “The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script”; English for fifteen years, and after that as Parliament provides by law. |
| 344 | Commission and Committee of Parliament on official language | A Commission recommends on the progressive use of Hindi and other matters, including any matter the President refers to it on “the language for communication between the Union and a State or between one State and another”; a Committee of 30 MPs examines its recommendations. |
| 345 | Official language or languages of a State | A State Legislature may by law adopt one or more languages in use in the State, or Hindi; until then, English continues. |
| 346 | Official language for communication between one State and another or between a State and the Union | The Union’s authorised language is used between States and between a State and the Union; two or more States may agree to use Hindi. |
| 347 | Special provision relating to language spoken by a section of the population of a State | On a demand by “a substantial proportion of the population of a State”, the President may direct official recognition of their language there. |
| 348 | Language to be used in the Supreme Court and in the High Courts and for Acts, Bills, etc. | Until Parliament provides otherwise, Supreme Court and High Court proceedings and the authoritative texts of laws are in English; a Governor, with the President’s previous consent, may allow Hindi or the State’s language in High Court proceedings (for judgments, see Section 7 of the 1963 Act, with an English translation). |
| 349 | Special procedure for enactment of certain laws relating to language | For fifteen years, no Bill on the language of courts and laws without the President’s previous sanction. |
| 350 | Language to be used in representations for redress of grievances | Every person may submit a representation for redress of a grievance “in any of the languages used in the Union or in the State”. |
| 350A | Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary stage | States and local authorities shall endeavour to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage to children of linguistic minorities (inserted from 1 November 1956). |
| 350B | Special Officer for linguistic minorities | A Special Officer appointed by the President investigates the safeguards for linguistic minorities and reports to the President (inserted from 1 November 1956). |
| 351 | Directive for development of the Hindi language | “It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language” and to develop it. |
The Eighth Schedule, referred to in Articles 344(1) and 351, lists 22 languages, from Assamese to Urdu; the four most recently added languages (Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali) were inserted by the Constitution (Ninety-second Amendment) Act, 2003 with effect from 7 January 2004. A State adopts an official language under Article 345, not by inclusion in the Schedule. The firm’s page on Article 351 and the directive for the development of Hindi covers the last article of this Part.
Which language is “authorised for use in the Union”? Article 343 and the Official Languages Act, 1963
Article 343(1) makes Hindi in Devanagari script the official language of the Union. Article 343(2) kept English for “all the official purposes of the Union” for fifteen years from 26 January 1950, and Article 343(3) allowed Parliament to provide by law for English after that. Parliament did so in the Official Languages Act, 1963 (Act No. 19 of 1963). Its Section 3 came into force on 26 January 1965 and was substituted in its present form by the Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 1967 (Act 1 of 1968) with effect from 8 January 1968.
Section 3(1), headed “Continuance of English language for official purposes of the Union and for use in Parliament”, says that “the English language may, as from the appointed day, continue to be used, in addition to Hindi,— (a) for all the official purposes of the Union for which it was being used immediately before that day; and (b) for the transaction of business in Parliament”. So, for the purposes of Article 346, the language “for the time being authorised” for the Union is Hindi, together with English. Section 3(5) keeps clause (a) and sub-sections (2) to (4) in force “until resolutions for the discontinuance of the use of the English language” have been passed by the Legislatures of all States that have not adopted Hindi as their official language, and then by each House of Parliament.
Three provisos to Section 3(1) apply Article 346 to particular pairs of governments.
The Union and a State that has not adopted Hindi
The first proviso says: “Provided that the English language shall be used for purposes of communication between the Union and a State which has not adopted Hindi as its official language”. Its official Hindi text is quoted in the Hindi summary below. Whether a State has “adopted Hindi as its official language” depends on its own law under Article 345.
A Hindi State writing in Hindi to a non-Hindi State
The second proviso says that “where Hindi is used for purposes of communication between one State which has adopted Hindi as its official language and another State which has not adopted Hindi as its official language, such communication in Hindi shall be accompanied by a translation of the same in the English language”.
A non-Hindi State may choose Hindi
The third proviso says that nothing in Section 3(1) prevents “a State which has not adopted Hindi as its official language from using Hindi for purposes of communication with the Union or with a State which has adopted Hindi as its official language, or by agreement with any other State”, and “in such a case, it shall not be obligatory to use the English language for purposes of communication with that State.”
Region A, B and C: the Official Language Rules, 1976
The Official Languages (Use for Official Purposes of the Union) Rules, 1976 were made by the Central Government under Section 8, read with Section 3(4), of the 1963 Act (G.S.R. 1052, 17 July 1976), and amended in 1987, 2007 and 2011. They tell Central Government offices which language to use. A “Central Government office” includes the offices of Central corporations and companies (Rule 2(b)). Rule 1(ii) says the Rules “shall extend to the whole of India, except the State of Tamilnadu.”
| Region | States and Union territories named in Rule 2 | Letters from a Central Government office (Rule 3) |
|---|---|---|
| Region A (Rule 2(f), as substituted in 2007) | Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, and the Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands | To the State or UT, or to any (non-Central) office or person there: “save in exceptional cases, be in Hindi”; a letter in English must carry a Hindi translation (Rule 3(1)). |
| Region B (Rule 2(g), as substituted in 2011) | Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab, and the Union territories of Chandigarh, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli | To the State or UT or its offices: “ordinarily be in Hindi”; a letter in English must carry a Hindi translation. The State or UT may ask for a class of letters, for a period it specifies, in English or in Hindi with a translation (Rule 3(2)(a) and proviso). To a person there: Hindi or English (Rule 3(2)(b)). |
| Region C (Rule 2(h)) | “the States and the Union Territories other than those referred to in clauses (f) and (g)” | To the State or UT, or to any (non-Central) office or person there: “shall be in English” (Rule 3(3)). |
The lists are quoted as they stand after the 2007 and 2011 amendments, the latest shown on India Code. They have not been updated for later changes to Union territories: they still name Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli separately, although the Constitution’s First Schedule now lists the single Union territory of “Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu” (merged with effect from 26 January 2020), and they do not mention the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, added to the First Schedule with effect from 31 October 2019. Check the Department of Official Language’s current orders before relying on the Region of these territories. Rule 3(4) lets a Central Government office located in Region C write to a State or Union territory of Region A or B in either Hindi or English, with Hindi “in such proportion as the Central Government may … determine from time to time”. Rule 4 deals with letters between Central Government offices themselves. Rule 5 says that, notwithstanding Rules 3 and 4, a Central Government office’s reply “to communications in Hindi shall be in Hindi”.
The Rules are about letters sent by Central Government offices. They do not deal with letters sent by a State Government to the Union or to another State; those remain under Article 346 and the provisos to Section 3(1) of the Act. Section 3(4) says rules are made “without prejudice to” Section 3(1), (2) and (3), so the Act’s provisos apply alongside the Rules.
Prepared by Century Law Firm from Articles 343 and 346 of the Constitution (Legislative Department, as on 10 September 2026), Section 3 of the Official Languages Act, 1963 (India Code, as on 6 July 2026) and Rules 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the Official Languages (Use for Official Purposes of the Union) Rules, 1976 (India Code).
Is Article 346 a “section”? Articles, sections and other “346”s
The Constitution’s own provisions are called articles: its text refers to them that way, as when Article 345 begins “Subject to the provisions of articles 346 and 347”. Acts of Parliament are divided into sections, such as Section 3 of the Official Languages Act, 1963, and rules into rules, such as Rule 3 of the 1976 Rules. This post first appeared in the blog’s “section of the day” series, collected on the Legal Sections Explained page; the firm’s Article 21 explainer is another constitutional guide.
Article 346 has nothing to do with the “346” of the criminal laws. Section 346 of the Indian Penal Code was “Wrongful confinement in secret”; it is now Section 127(6) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). Section 346 BNS covers tampering with a property mark (formerly Section 489 IPC), and Section 346 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 covers the power to postpone or adjourn proceedings (formerly Section 309 CrPC). The firm’s IPC to BNS and CrPC to BNSS comparison tool shows these pairs.
अनुच्छेद 346 – हिंदी में सारांश (Summary in Hindi)
अनुच्छेद 346 भारत के संविधान के भाग 17 (“राजभाषा”) के अध्याय 2 (“प्रादेशिक भाषाएं”) में है। इसका आधिकारिक हिंदी शीर्षक है: “एक राज्य और दूसरे राज्य के बीच या किसी राज्य और संघ के बीच पत्रादि की राजभाषा”। यह अनुच्छेद बताता है कि एक राज्य सरकार और दूसरी राज्य सरकार के बीच, तथा किसी राज्य सरकार और केन्द्र सरकार (संघ) के बीच पत्र-व्यवहार किस भाषा में होगा। इसका उत्तर यह है कि वही भाषा, जो उस समय संघ के शासकीय कामकाज के लिए प्राधिकृत है (“तत्समय प्राधिकृत भाषा”)। अनुच्छेद 346 अपनी ओर से किसी नई भाषा का नाम नहीं लेता, वह राज्यों के आपसी पत्रों को संघ की भाषा से जोड़ देता है।
संघ की भाषा कौन सी है? अनुच्छेद 343(1) कहता है: “संघ की राजभाषा हिन्दी और लिपि देवनागरी होगी”। संविधान ने पहले पंद्रह वर्षों तक अंग्रेजी को भी जारी रखा और संसद् को यह अधिकार दिया कि वह विधि द्वारा उसके बाद भी अंग्रेजी के प्रयोग का उपबंध करे। संसद् ने राजभाषा अधिनियम, 1963 (1963 का अधिनियम संख्यांक 19) बनाया। इसकी धारा 3(1) के अनुसार हिन्दी के अतिरिक्त अंग्रेजी भाषा संघ के राजकीय प्रयोजनों और संसद् के कार्य के लिए प्रयोग में लाई जाती रह सकेगी। धारा 3(5) के अनुसार यह व्यवस्था तब तक बनी रहेगी जब तक हिन्दी न अपनाने वाले सभी राज्यों के विधान-मंडल अंग्रेजी का प्रयोग बंद करने के संकल्प पारित न करें और उसके बाद संसद् के दोनों सदन भी ऐसा संकल्प पारित न करें। इसलिए आज अनुच्छेद 346 के लिए “प्राधिकृत भाषा” का अर्थ हिन्दी के साथ अंग्रेजी भी है।
अनुच्छेद 346 का परन्तुक कहता है कि यदि दो या अधिक राज्य यह करार करते हैं कि उनके बीच पत्रादि की राजभाषा हिन्दी होगी, तो वे हिन्दी का प्रयोग कर सकते हैं। यह छूट केवल हिन्दी भाषी राज्यों तक सीमित नहीं है और किसी राज्य पर हिन्दी अनिवार्य नहीं करती।
राजभाषा अधिनियम, 1963 की धारा 3(1) के तीन परन्तुक इस नियम को आगे स्पष्ट करते हैं। पहले परन्तुक का आधिकारिक हिंदी पाठ है: “परन्तु संघ और किसी ऐसे राज्य के बीच, जिसने हिन्दी को अपनी राजभाषा के रूप में नहीं अपनाया है, पत्रादि के प्रयोजनों के लिए अंग्रेजी भाषा प्रयोग में लाई जाएगी”। दूसरे परन्तुक के अनुसार, जब हिन्दी अपनाने वाला कोई राज्य हिन्दी न अपनाने वाले राज्य को हिन्दी में पत्र भेजता है, तो उसके साथ अंग्रेजी अनुवाद भी भेजा जाएगा। तीसरे परन्तुक के अनुसार, हिन्दी न अपनाने वाला राज्य चाहे तो संघ से या हिन्दी अपनाने वाले राज्य से, या किसी अन्य राज्य से उसकी सहमति से, हिन्दी में पत्र-व्यवहार कर सकता है, और तब उसके साथ अंग्रेजी का प्रयोग अनिवार्य नहीं रहता।
केन्द्र सरकार के कार्यालयों के लिए राजभाषा (संघ के शासकीय प्रयोजनों के लिए प्रयोग) नियम, 1976 ने राज्यों और संघ राज्यक्षेत्रों को तीन क्षेत्रों में बांटा है। Region A में बिहार, छत्तीसगढ़, हरियाणा, हिमाचल प्रदेश, झारखंड, मध्य प्रदेश, राजस्थान, उत्तर प्रदेश, उत्तराखंड, राष्ट्रीय राजधानी क्षेत्र दिल्ली और अंडमान और निकोबार द्वीपसमूह हैं; यहां केन्द्र सरकार के कार्यालय, असाधारण मामलों को छोड़कर, हिन्दी में पत्र भेजते हैं (नियम 3(1))। Region B में गुजरात, महाराष्ट्र, पंजाब और चंडीगढ़, दमन और दीव तथा दादरा और नगर हवेली हैं; यहां पत्र साधारणतया हिन्दी में होते हैं, पर राज्य चाहे तो कुछ पत्र अंग्रेजी में मंगा सकता है (नियम 3(2))। बाकी सभी राज्य और संघ राज्यक्षेत्र Region C में हैं, जहां पत्र अंग्रेजी में भेजे जाते हैं (नियम 3(3))। ये सूचियां 2007 और 2011 के संशोधनों की हैं; 2019–2020 में संघ राज्यक्षेत्रों में हुए परिवर्तनों (दादरा और नगर हवेली और दमन और दीव का विलय, जम्मू-कश्मीर और लद्दाख) के अनुसार इन्हें अद्यतन नहीं किया गया है। हिन्दी में आए पत्र का उत्तर केन्द्र सरकार का कार्यालय हिन्दी में देता है (नियम 5)। ये नियम तमिलनाडु राज्य पर लागू नहीं होते (नियम 1(ii))।
अनुच्छेद 346 का महत्व यह है कि सरकारों के बीच पत्र-व्यवहार की भाषा का एक साझा नियम तय रहता है, जबकि हर राज्य अपने भीतर के कामकाज के लिए अनुच्छेद 345 के अधीन अपनी भाषा चुन सकता है। अदालतों की भाषा अनुच्छेद 348 तय करता है, और अनुच्छेद 350 के अनुसार हर व्यक्ति संघ या राज्य में प्रयोग होने वाली किसी भी भाषा में अपनी शिकायत दे सकता है। (यह सारांश फर्म द्वारा तैयार किया गया है; उद्धरण चिह्नों में दिए गए शब्द संविधान और राजभाषा अधिनियम के आधिकारिक हिंदी पाठ से हैं।)
Frequently asked questions
Article 346 says that “the language for the time being authorised for use in the Union for official purposes shall be the official language for communication between one State and another State and between a State and the Union”. Its proviso allows two or more States to agree to use Hindi between themselves. It is in Part XVII (Official Language), Chapter II (Regional Languages), and has been in force unchanged since 26 January 1950.
Under Article 346 it is the language authorised for the Union’s official use: Hindi, together with English, which Section 3(1) of the Official Languages Act, 1963 continues. The first proviso to Section 3(1) requires English between the Union and a State that has not adopted Hindi as its official language. For letters from Central Government offices, Rule 3 of the 1976 Rules sets Hindi for Region A, ordinarily Hindi for Region B and English for Region C.
Yes. The proviso to Article 346 says that “if two or more States agree that the Hindi language should be the official language for communication between such States, that language may be used for such communication.”
Article 343(1) names Hindi in Devanagari script as the official language of the Union. English is not named there, but Section 3(1) of the Official Languages Act, 1963 lets English “continue to be used, in addition to Hindi” for the Union’s official purposes and in Parliament. No end date is fixed: under Section 3(5), this continues until all States that have not adopted Hindi pass resolutions to discontinue English and both Houses of Parliament then pass a resolution.
In the official Hindi text of the Constitution, Article 346 is headed “एक राज्य और दूसरे राज्य के बीच या किसी राज्य और संघ के बीच पत्रादि की राजभाषा”. It says that “संघ में शासकीय प्रयोजनों के लिए प्रयोग किए जाने के लिए तत्समय प्राधिकृत भाषा” will be the official language of correspondence (पत्रादि) between States and between a State and the Union, and that two or more States may agree (करार) to use Hindi. The full Hindi text is quoted above.
Article 346 gives all governments in India one common rule for the language of official letters to each other: the Union’s authorised language, now Hindi and English. Each State may still choose its own official language for internal work under Article 345, but that choice is “Subject to the provisions of articles 346 and 347”, so it does not change the language of letters to other States and to the Union.
They are defined in Rule 2 of the Official Languages (Use for Official Purposes of the Union) Rules, 1976. Region A covers Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Region B covers Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Region C covers every other State and Union territory. The lists date from 2007 and 2011 and have not been updated for the 2019–2020 changes to Union territories (the merged Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu; Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh).
Yes. The third proviso to Section 3(1) of the Official Languages Act, 1963 says nothing in that sub-section prevents such a State from “using Hindi for purposes of communication with the Union or with a State which has adopted Hindi as its official language, or by agreement with any other State”, and that English is then not obligatory with that State.
Article 345 lets a State Legislature adopt by law one or more languages in use in the State, or Hindi, for the State’s own official purposes; until it does, English continues. Article 346 deals with letters going out of a State, to another State or to the Union, and applies the Union’s authorised language to them.
No. Court language is governed by Article 348: Supreme Court and High Court proceedings are in English until Parliament provides otherwise, and a Governor may, with the President’s previous consent, authorise Hindi or the State’s official language in the High Court’s proceedings. The proviso to Article 348(2) excludes judgments, but Section 7 of the Official Languages Act, 1963 lets the Governor, with the President’s previous consent, authorise Hindi or the State’s official language, in addition to English, for the High Court’s judgments, decrees and orders, with an English translation. Under Article 350, every person may submit a representation for redress of a grievance in any language used in the Union or the State.
The provisions of the Constitution are called articles, and its own text refers to them that way, for example “articles 346 and 347” in Article 345. Acts of Parliament are divided into sections, such as Section 3 of the Official Languages Act, 1963.
No. Section 346 of the Indian Penal Code was “Wrongful confinement in secret”, now Section 127(6) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Section 346 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is the power to postpone or adjourn proceedings (formerly Section 309 CrPC).
Conclusion
Article 346 makes the Union’s authorised language, today Hindi with English, the language of official communication between States and between a State and the Union, and lets States agree to use Hindi between themselves. The detail is in Section 3 of the Official Languages Act, 1963 and in Rule 3 of the 1976 Rules, which sets the language of letters from Central Government offices to Regions A, B and C.
Sources used for this post: the Constitution of India, Preamble, Articles 343 to 351, 394 and 394A and the Eighth Schedule, from the Legislative Department’s “The Constitution of India 2026 (English Version)” (as on 10 September 2026), https://www.legislative.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/07/95ef471035ee0b5e4e5b1cac3d3584c1.pdf; Articles 343(1), 345 and 346 and the Hindi headings of Part XVII from the Legislative Department’s “The Constitution of India 2024 (Hindi Version)” (भारत का संविधान, as on 1 May 2024), https://www.legislative.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/07/385b2568a07d88083fa6638e9f60f814.pdf; the Official Languages Act, 1963 (Act No. 19 of 1963), Sections 1 to 9 and the Statement of Objects and Reasons, from India Code (A1963-19.pdf, as on 6 July 2026), and Section 3 from its official Hindi text on India Code (HH1963-19.pdf); the Official Languages (Use for Official Purposes of the Union) Rules, 1976 (G.S.R. 1052, 17 July 1976, as amended by G.S.R. 790 of 24 October 1987, G.S.R. 162 of 3 August 2007 and G.S.R. 145 of 4 May 2011), Rules 1 to 7, from the Department of Official Language’s compilation “(As Amended, 1987, 2007, 2011)” on India Code (“OL Rule 1976.pdf”), with Gazette numbers as stated in that compilation; the First Schedule and Article 240 of the Constitution (2026 edition) for the 2019–2020 changes to Union territories; and the firm’s Gazette-checked section data for Section 346 IPC, BNS and BNSS.
