High Court Directs ECI to Consider Providing Electoral Forms in Urdu
On Monday, Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider a petitioner's request to provide electoral roll enumeration forms in Urdu for constituencies in Telangana where 20 percent or more of the population is conversant in the language. The directive followed a petition filed by a social worker from Karimnagar district who challenged the practice of supplying forms exclusively in Telugu.
The petitioner sought the provision of Urdu-language enumeration forms during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to make the registration process more accessible. Observing that courts usually do not interfere with the decisions of the ECI, Justice Reddy sought information from the ECI counsel regarding what decisions were taken on similar language issues in the states of Assam, Bihar, and West Bengal.
During the hearing, ECI counsel Avinash Desai informed the bench that enumeration forms are printed in Telugu because it is the official language of Telangana. However, Desai noted that English-language forms are provided to electors in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area.
Desai explained that the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana had previously convened a meeting where it was unanimously decided to print forms in English for Hyderabad district for the convenience of voters. He added that because Hyderabad has a considerable Urdu-speaking population, Booth Level Officers were instructed to carry five to 10 dummy Urdu enumeration forms to assist voters who speak the language.
Senior counsel V. Raghunath, representing the petitioner, countered this argument, stating that providing dummy forms in Urdu only upon request goes against the spirit of Constitutional provisions. Raghunath asserted that electors have a right to receive forms in the language they speak.
In response, the ECI counsel argued that issuing directions to print enumeration forms in three languages would place a heavy burden on the state exchequer.
The High Court adjourned the matter for one week, at which point the next hearing will take place.
