India, Nov. 25 -- It is language that gives life to law. Language holds a mirror to society; it is both a repository of social prejudices and an instrument that can help reshape perceptions. Which is why the Supreme Court's effort to reform its administrative language deserves appreciation. A recent report, Reforming Administrative Nomenclature in the Indian Judiciary, by Centre for Research and Planning (CRP), the Court's in-house think tank, has cited numerous examples to state that "while the Constitution guarantees equality, dignity, and fraternity, the very institutions meant to uphold these values continue to operate with an administrative lexicon that perpetuates inequality and reinforces servitude and exclusion". The report calls for the Court to drop job titles such as halakhor, dhobi, coolie, masalchi, etc, and replace them with neutral terms. So, sanitation assistant could be the new title for halakhor, masalchi could be redesignated as kitchen assistant, and coolie could be freight assistant, among others. Such acts of renaming are not merely exercises in translation - from a desi language to English - but essential reforms that will align the judiciary's administrative language with the Constitution's egalitarian values. Job titles often suggest caste functions and carry prejudices rooted in notions of ritual pollution. Renaming them is, thus, a step towards making the judiciary prejudice-free. Another of CRP's recent reports, Judicial Conceptions of Caste, also foregrounds the centrality of language in the dispersal of justice. It has argued that the judicial language influenced not just legal doctrine but also reinforced or diminished notions of ideas such as equality, dignity and merit. Language, like law, has to respond to social change and evolve accordingly, in the spirit of building a society that conforms to values such as equality and equity. That's the message from the Court....