New Delhi, February 19 The DMRC told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that it was not in favor of changing the Hindi signage for the "Supreme Court" metro station to "Sarvoch Nyayalaya" in Devanagari script, as it would entail a financial burden on the exchequer.
The counsel for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation submitted before a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia that such an update would cost Rs 40-45 lakh.
Besides the signage at the station, several other changes in the road maps, mobile applications, etc, would have to be made, she explained.
"It would be a financial burden. One such change is Rs 40-45 lakh per station... It's a PSU," the counsel submitted.
The DMRC counsel further said that changing the name of one station could have a ripple effect, resulting in other similar litigation for other metro stations.
The court responded that an apprehension of multiple litigation could not be a ground to oppose the plea and directed the DMRC to file its affidavit.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Umesh Sharma objecting to the name of the metro station as "Supreme Court" instead of "Sarvoch Nyayalaya" for Hindi signage.
In support of his claim, the petitioner had pointed out that the "Central Secretariat" metro station was "Kendriya Sachivalaya" in Hindi.
The petitioner earlier submitted that according to the Official Languages Act and its rules, all manuals, signages and name plates in Central government offices ought to be in English and Hindi, and the use of Hindi has to be in Devanagari script.
The petitioner's counsel pointed out that the Supreme Court's Hindi name on its own website was "Bharat ka Sarvoch Nyayalaya".
The matter will be heard next in April.
