DELHI : The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging an order upholding a 2023 rule mandating proficiency in Telugu language to qualify for the civil judge’s post in Telangana.
“Sorry, there is no merit in the plea,” said a two-judge bench of the apex court, led by Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih.
It asked the petitioner’s counsel, “It (rule) only says you need to know Telugu.”
The petitioner, a practising advocate, applied for the post of a civil judge pursuant to a notification issued in April 2024.
Before the high court, he challenged the constitutionality of Rules of the Telangana State Judicial (Service and Cadre) Rules, 2023 over the requirement of the language.
The petitioner also sought a direction to provide the option of being proficient either in Telugu or Urdu as a qualification for being a civil judge aside from providing the option of translating from English to Telugu or Urdu and vice versa in written examination conducted under the 2023 Rules.
The petitioner’s lawyer told the apex court that 15 per cent of population in Telangana was Urdu speaking. “I have cleared the qualifying examination,” he added.
Hearing all these submissions from the petitioner’s lawyer, the bench of the top court, however, was unmoved and finally refused to examine the plea and dismissed it.
In the Telangana High Court, petitioner’s counsel argued since Urdu was given the status of second official language in the state, it was arbitrary and unjust that an option of being conversant with Urdu or Telugu in the rules for recruitment for civil judges was not provided.