The Supreme Court has stayed an order of the Uttarakhand High Court that questioned the suitability of an Additional District Magistrate (ADM) for an executive role on the grounds of his inability to speak English.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, along with Justices K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria, passed the interim stay after hearing the challenge to the High Court’s directive.
The Uttarakhand High Court had earlier instructed the State Election Commissioner and the Chief Secretary to examine whether an officer from the ADM cadre, who could understand but not speak English, would be competent to function effectively as an Electoral Registration Officer (ERO). The High Court raised concerns about whether such a language limitation might hinder the officer’s ability to exercise effective administrative control.
The Supreme Court’s intervention puts the High Court’s directive on hold, thereby allowing the officer to continue in his role while the matter is under judicial consideration.
The top court’s decision underscores the broader question of whether spoken English proficiency is essential for holding key administrative positions in India’s multilingual governance framework. The matter is expected to come up for further hearing in due course.
