'Let Us Make Friends With Urdu & Every Language' : Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Urdu Signboard In Maharashtra Municipality

In a significant judgment advocating respect for the linguistic diversity of the country, the Supreme Court on Tuesday (April 15) rejected a challenge to the use of Urdu in the signboard of a Municipality in Maharashtra.

The Court dismissed a petition challenging the Bombay High Court's judgment which allowed the use of Urdu on the signboard of the new building of the Municipal Council, Patur  in district Akola, Maharashtra.

A bench comprising Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice K Vinod Chandran held that the display of an additional language was not a violation of the Maharashtra Local Authorities (Official Languages) Act, 2022 and that there was no prohibition in the said Act on the use of Urdu.

The Court held that the purpose of the use of Urdu is merely "effective communication" and diversity in language must be respected.  

The judgment authored by Justice Dhulia contains many notable observations on the need to cherish the diversity in our languages. Language must not become a cause for division amongst people, the judgment appealed.

Coming to the present case, it must be stated that a Municipal Council is there to provide services to the local community of the area and cater to their immediate day-to-day needs. If people or a group of people, residing within the area covered by the Municipal Council are familiar with Urdu, then there should not be any objection if Urdu is used in addition to the official language i.e. Marathi, at least on the signboard of the Municipal Council. Language is a medium for exchange of ideas that brings people holding diverse views and beliefs closer and it should not become a cause of their division.

Our misconceptions, perhaps even our prejudices against a language have to be courageously and truthfully tested against the reality, which is this great diversity of our nation: Our strength can never be our weakness. Let us make friends with Urdu and every language.

Urdu not alien to India; it was born in India and flourished here

The Court also addressed the prejudice against Urdu language:

The prejudice against Urdu stems from the misconception that Urdu is alien to India. This opinion, we are afraid, is incorrect as Urdu, like Marathi and Hindi, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is a language which was born in this land. Urdu developed and flourished in India due to the need for people belonging to different cultural milieus who wanted to exchange ideas and communicate amongst themselves. Over the centuries, it attained ever greater refinement and became the language of choice for many acclaimed poets. 

Even today, the language used by the common people of the country is replete with words of the Urdu language, even if one is not aware of it, the Court said.

It would not be incorrect to say that one cannot have a day-to-day conversation in Hindi without using words of Urdu or words derived from Urdu. The word 'Hindi' itself comes from the Persian word 'Hindavi'! This exchange of vocabulary flows both ways because Urdu also has many words borrowed from other Indian languages, including Sanskrit.

Interestingly, Urdu words have a heavy influence on Court parlance, both in criminal and civil law. From Adalat to halafnama to peshi, the influence of Urdu is writ large in the language of the Indian Courts. For that matter, even though the official language of the Supreme Court and the High Courts as per Article 348 of the Constitution is English, yet many Urdu words continue to be used in this Court till date. These include vakalatnama, dasti, etc

Langauge is not religion

Let our concepts be clear. Language is not religion. Language does not even represent religion. Language belongs to a community, to a region, to people; and not to a religion.
Language is culture. Language is the yardstick to measure the civilizational march of a community and its people. So is the case of Urdu, which is the finest specimen of ganga-jamuni tahzeeb, or the Hindustani tahzeeb, which is the composite cultural ethos of the plains of northern and central India. But before language became a tool for learning, its earliest and primary purpose will always remain communication.

Justice Dhulia started the judgment with a quote of Mouloud Benzadi : When you learn a language, you don't just learn to speak and write a new language. You also learn to be open-minded, liberal, tolerant, kind and considerate towards all mankind.'

The plea, raised by a former member of the Municipal Council, Patur in district Akola, Maharashtra, was that the use of Urdu language in any manner is impermissible. She first approached the Municipal Council, which rejected her plea, stating that the use of Urdu in addition to Marathi language on a signboard is justified. 

Against this, she moved an application under the Maharashtra Municipal Council, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Township Act, 1965. While allowing this application, it was held that 100% Rajbhasha Marathi should be used in Government proceedings. However, this was subsequently set aside by the Divisional Commissioner, Amravati against which a petition was filed before the Bombay High Court. However, the Court rejected the plea against which the present SLP was filed.

Since during the pendency, the 2022 Act was enacted, the Supreme Court disposed of the SLP observing that the order of the High Court was unsustainable and it is open for the party aggrieved to seek recourse to remedy as available in law.  Subsequently, the matter was heard by a division bench of the High Court, which is under challenge.

The High Court had observed in its judgment that: "A perusal of the Act of 2022, would indicate, that all that it does, is to ensure that the business and affairs of the Council, are to be conducted in Marathi language, including Marathi script. Insofar as the erection of signboard and display of the name of the Municipal Council is concerned, it does not prohibit use of an additional language, to display the name, in addition to the name being displayed in Marathi language. Till such time, Marathi language continues to be the official language of the Local Authorities, in terms of the Act of 2022, in our considered opinion, the use of an additional language to display the name of Municipal Council on its building would not indicate any violation of the provisions of the Act of 2022."

Also from the judgment - Urdu & Hindi One Language According To Scholars; Language Shouldn't Be A Cause For Division : Supreme Court

Case Details: MRS. VARSHATAI W/o. SH. SANJAY BAGADE v. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA THROUGH ITS SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUDICIARY, MANTRALAYA, MUMBAI AND ORS. ETC. | DIARY NO. 24812 OF 2024

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 427

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