Urdu Alongside Marathi on a Municipal Council Signboard Is Lawful; Language Is Not Religion: Supreme Court

The Municipal Council of Patur, in Akola district, displayed its name in Marathi with an Urdu translation below, a practice pleaded to date from 1956 (paras 2, 4). A former member objected; the Council rejected the objection by majority on 14.02.2020, but on her application under Section 308 of the 1965 Act the Collector ordered exclusive use of Marathi (paras 3-5). The Divisional Commissioner set that order aside, and the Bombay High Court dismissed her writ petition (paras 6, 12). After this Court found that order unsustainable in view of the 2022 Act, the High Court heard the matter again and held that the Act does not bar an additional language (paras 13-14).

After the 2018 amendment, the Collector can act under Section 308(1) only when the Chief Officer refers a resolution, so the appellant's application should not have been entertained (paras 9, 11). The 2022 Act makes Marathi the official language of local authorities but does not prohibit an additional language, and Marathi and Urdu occupy the same position in the Eighth Schedule (para 15). Language is not religion; it belongs to a community, a region and a people (para 17). Urdu, a specimen of the ganga-jamuni tahzeeb, was used here merely for communication (paras 18-19). Article 345 lets a State adopt more than one language, as the Constitution Bench in Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sahitya Sammelan upheld for Urdu in Uttar Pradesh (paras 23-24). The prejudice against Urdu stems from the misconception that it is alien to India, though it is an Indo-Aryan language born here (para 27). Hindustani was not recognised as the Union's official language mainly because of Partition (para 33), and linguists treat Hindi and Urdu as one language, since scripts do not make a language (para 41). Where residents are familiar with Urdu, a Municipal Council serving them may use it in addition to Marathi (para 46).