SC seeks reply over non-implementation of Urdu as official language

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday sought a reply from the federal government over non-implementation of Urdu as the official language in all government departments.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Umer Ata Bandial, heard a contempt plea against non-implementation of Urdu as official language. In September 2015, a three-member bench of the apex court, headed by former chief justice of Pakistan Justice Jawad S Khwaja, on a petition had ordered implementation of Urdu as the official language in all government departments.

Later, in December 2015, petitioner Kokab Iqbal had filed a contempt petition in the apex court under Article 204 of the Constitution with the plea that the federal government had so far failed to produce any report signifying that the Sept 8 verdict had been fulfilled.

On Monday, during the course of proceedings, the court observed that the federal government failed to comply with the SC order of implementing Urdu as official language in government departments.

The court also sought a reply from the Punjab government for not implementing the Punjabi language in the province. Apart from the national language (Urdu), Article 251 of the Constitution talks about regional languages as well, Justice Umer Ata Bandial observed. The judge said they are issuing a notice to the Punjab government, adding that “without national and regional languages, we will loss our identity”. “In my view, like our elders, we should also learn Persian and Arabic language”, Justice Bandial remarked.