In a ruling that threads poetry through the fabric of constitutional clarity, the Supreme Court of India has firmly turned down a challenge against the inclusion of Urdu on the signboard of the Patur Municipal Council in Maharashtra. With a tone steeped in inclusivity and cultural reverence, the Court declared that a signboard in more than one language isn’t a provocation — it’s communication.
The verdict came after a prolonged legal tussle initiated by a former Municipal Council member from Akola district, who objected to the presence of Urdu alongside Marathi on a civic building. She argued that Urdu had no place in municipal signage. That argument, the Supreme Court ruled, does not hold water.
Rejecting the challenge to the Bombay High Court’s earlier decision in favor of the multilingual signboard, the apex court bench — comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K. Vinod Chandran — found nothing in the Maharashtra Local Authorities (Official Languages) Act, 2022 that forbade the use of an additional language like Urdu.
“Language,” the Court reminded, “is a bridge — not a boundary.”
Justice Dhulia, who authored the judgment, infused the opinion with a thoughtful defense of linguistic diversity. “Our prejudices,” he wrote, “must be tested courageously against the truth — and the truth is that India’s strength is its diversity. Let us make friends with Urdu and every language.”
He addressed head-on the misconception that Urdu is foreign or religiously affiliated, affirming that Urdu — like Marathi and Hindi — is an Indo-Aryan language born and nurtured on Indian soil. Its usage, he said, is not only historically rooted in the Indian experience but also embedded in the everyday speech of people across the country — often without their conscious knowledge.
Even the corridors of justice echo with Urdu. From adālat to halafnāma, from peshi to vakalatnāma — the language quietly lives and breathes in the very system that now affirms its belonging.
“Language,” the Court said, “is not religion. It belongs not to a faith, but to a people. It grows with their culture, their traditions, and their needs.”
Tracing Urdu’s evolution as a necessity of shared expression across diverse communities, the judgment portrayed the language as a living embodiment of India’s ganga-jamuni tahzeeb — a cultural blend that defies division.
The dispute began with a plea under the Maharashtra Municipal Council Act of 1965, which sought exclusive usage of Marathi in official matters. Though a single ruling initially sided with that interpretation, the decision was overturned by a Divisional Commissioner. The matter made its way through the Bombay High Court and eventually landed before the Supreme Court, which upheld the High Court’s balanced view.
The High Court had already clarified that the 2022 language law ensures official work be conducted in Marathi but does not prohibit the use of other languages for auxiliary purposes — like a nameplate on a building.
In its final words, the Supreme Court anchored its reasoning not just in law, but in humanity. It cited poet Mouloud Benzadi: “When you learn a language, you also learn to be open-minded, liberal, tolerant, kind and considerate towards all mankind.”
The ruling doesn’t just defend a signboard in Urdu. It defends the principle that in India, language is a shared inheritance — and every script is a thread in the national tapestry.
