Srinagar, April 16 -- A two-judge bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice K. Vinod Chandran delivered the landmark ruling, describing Urdu as the "finest specimen of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb"-a term that reflects the syncretic cultural ethos of northern and central India, embodying communal harmony and shared heritage.

"Language belongs to a community, a region, a people-not to a religion," Justice Dhulia observed in the verdict, cautioning against the misconception that Urdu is foreign or exclusive to a particular faith. "Our misconceptions, perhaps even our prejudices against a language, have to be courageously and truthfully tested against the reality, which is this great diversity of our nation."

The court also stressed that Urdu,...