Bangalore: Gujarat High Court has given a verdict stating that Hindi is considered a foreign language for Gujaratis and ruled that the state government-run primary schools will teach only in Gujarati as it is their mother tongue.

The decision came after hearing the case filed by the Junagadh farmers who objected the notification sent to them in Hindi language by the National Highways Authority of India [NHAI]. It all started when the NHAI planned to widen the existing two-lane national highway 8D to four lanes in 2006, but the plan was changed last year on various grounds, reports The Times of India.

The farmers of Junagadh and Rajkot were deeply hurt by the notification and had moved to the High Court as their land would have been acquired to widen the Highway. And now, as the plan has been changed last year, these farmers are assuming that it must have been changed for the benefit of the influential people.

The High Court said that according to section 3(A) 3 of the National Highways Act, the notification regarding the change in plan must have been published in Gujarati as it is the regional language.

The High Court Justice V M Sahai, who heard the case, came to the conclusion that NHAI has made a mistake by not publishing the notification in Gujarati. He also canceled that notification as it was published only in Hindi and English and declared it as unacceptable and invalid, but has refused to cancel the project.