Are there any constitutional restrictions on the use of regional languages for official purposes?
Yes, there are constitutional restrictions on the use of regional languages for official purposes. According to Article 345 of the Constitution, the Legislature of a State may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi as the language or languages to be used for all or any of the official purposes of that State. However, until the Legislature of the State otherwise provides by law, English continues to be used for official purposes within the State for which it was being used immediately before the commencement of this Constitution. Additionally, Article 346 provides that the language authorized for use in the Union for official purposes shall be the official language for communication between one State and another State or between a State and the Union. The President may direct that a language spoken by a section of the population of a State be officially recognized throughout that State or any part thereof for specified purposes if he is satisfied that a substantial proportion of the population of the State desire its use.