Urdu As Govt Language: IHC calls in top officials

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday issued notices to the federation, and the establishment and law and secretaries on a plea seeking directions to declare Urdu as the official language in government offices.

IHC Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi resumed hearing of a plea filed by Akram Chaudhry to have Urdu declared the official language of the bureaucracy.

During the course of the hearing, petitioner Akram Chaudhry apprised the bench that the government should ban English in offices and declare Urdu as the official language for all correspondence.

He argued that Article 251 of the constitution states that Urdu will declared the official language after 15 years, but this was never done.

After hearing the arguments, the judge issued notices to the respondents  and adjourned till May 22.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2014.