The apex court ruled on a petition challenging the use of Urdu on the signboard of the Patur Municipal Council building in Akola district
NEW DELHI – Urdu language “is the finest specimen of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (culture), or the Hindustani tehzeeb,” the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday.
A division bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran refused to interfere with the Bombay High Court’s finding that the use of Urdu is not prohibited under the Maharashtra Local Authorities (Official Languages) Act, 2022, or in any provision of law.
The court said language is culture and must not become a cause for dividing people. It said there is a “misconception that Urdu is alien to India”, adding that “it is a language which was born in this land”.
Writing for the bench, Justice Dhulia elaborated on the court’s views on Urdu and languages in general. “Language is not religion. Language does not even represent religion. Language belongs to a community, to a region, to a people; and not to a religion,” said the judgment.
“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,” the apex court said.
A former councillor had filed a petition challenging the use of Urdu on the signboard of the Patur Municipal Council building in Akola district of Maharashtra.
The court attributed the religious connotations attached to languages to colonial policies that divided Hindi and Urdu along religious lines — a divide it described as a “pitiable digression from reality.”
“Before language became a tool for learning, its earliest and primary purpose will always remain communication,” Justice Dhulia said. “The purpose here for the use of Urdu is merely communication. All the municipal council wanted to do was to make an effective communication. This is the primary purpose of a language, which the Bombay High Court has laid emphasis on,” the court said.
“We must respect and rejoice in our diversity, including our many languages. India has more than a hundred major languages. Then there are other languages known as dialects or ‘mother tongues’ which also run into hundreds. According to the 2001 Census, India had a total of 122 major languages including the 22 scheduled languages, and a total of 234 mother tongues. Urdu was the sixth most spoken scheduled language of India. In fact, it is spoken by at least a part of the population in all states and Union Territories, except perhaps in our North-Eastern states,” the court said.
The judges also acknowledged Urdu’s deep roots in Indian legal parlance. “From ‘Adalat’ to ‘halaf nama’ and ‘peshi,’ the imprint of Urdu on the language of the courts is unmistakable,” it said.
Navaid Hamid, former president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, welcomed the court ruling. In a tweet he said the court’s observations give a fillip to Urdu fans to demand putting more signboards in the language.
Welcomes SC ruling in Akola case challenging usage of Urdu signboards at govt offices.
— Navaid Hamid نوید حامد नवेद हामिद (@navaidhamid) April 16, 2025
SC's ruling that Urdu isn't alien & is born in this land should be a stern reminder to all who brackets Urdu with Muslims apart, giving filip to Urduwalas to demand putting more Urdu signboards pic.twitter.com/3hElnrtzDp
