SIR: Telangana HC asks ECI to consider Urdu forms in select constituencies

The Telangana High Court directed the Election Commission to consider providing Urdu Enumeration Forms for voters in constituencies with a significant Urdu-speaking population. The court observed that electoral processes should offer practical solutions and not exclude linguistic minorities

By Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad: Justice B Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court on Monday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider providing Enumeration Forms in Urdu, at the option of electors, in constituencies where the population of Urdu-speaking voters exceeds 20 per cent.

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The direction came in a writ petition challenging the decision to print and distribute Enumeration Forms for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls exclusively in Telugu outside the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits.

Senior Counsel V Raghunath, appearing for the petitioner, contended that restricting the forms to Telugu discriminates against linguistic minorities, migrant populations and a sizeable section of Urdu-speaking voters in the State. He argued that voters should not have to depend on Booth Level Officers for translated forms and that access to forms in a language understood by voters is a constitutional right.

Counsel for the ECI submitted that Telugu is the first official language of the State and that English forms are being used in Hyderabad district following consultations with political parties. It was further submitted that Booth Level Officers carry dummy forms in Urdu to assist voters.

While declining to interfere with the present arrangement, Justice Vijaysen Reddy observed that the issue is a sensitive one and remarked that the Election Commission, being an institution conducting elections in the world’s largest democracy, “should have answers and solutions and should not say it is not possible”.

The Judge also orally observed that democracy represents the will of the people and questioned why bilingual or multilingual forms could not be considered when several other public documents are made available in multiple languages. The matter was adjourned after directing the Election Commission to communicate its decision on providing Urdu forms by the next date of hearing.