Lingo of Obscurity

On April 11, 2023, the Delhi Police Commissioner issued an order saying that difficult Urdu words should be avoided in chargesheets and FIRs. Personnel in police stations and at the district level have to ensure the maximum use of simpler words in FIRs because people do not even know the meaning of Urdu/Persian words used, which have been a part of the Delhi police’s functioning.

Incidentally, the Delhi High Court on December 11, 2019, had disposed of a PIL with the following orders: 

“a) Direct the Commissioner of Delhi police and his officers not to put the mandate of using Urdu and Persian Words in the entire FIR. (First Information Report). 

“b) Direct the Commissioner of Delhi police and his officers to use simple Hindi or English language (or any language suitable to the parties of the case) in the whole of the FIR, so that it can be comprehended to the entire public at large (especially the concerned parties) or replace the entire formal text with comprehensive columns just like other parts of the FIR.”

The petitioner had taken to the Court a list of Persian and Urdu words frequently and commonly used by the police while narrating incidents in FIRs.

FIRs should be in the words of the complainant. Too much flowery language, the meaning of which has to be found with the help of dictionaries, is not to be used. Moreover, police officers are working for the common public at large and not always for those who have a Doctorate in Urdu, Hindi or Persian, the petitioner said. As far as possible, simple words are to be used in FIRs, he said.

On November 25, 2019, it was submitted before the Court that the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Legal Cell, Police Headquarter, Delhi, had already issued a circular on November 20, 2019, regarding the use of simple words instead of Urdu and Persian while recording FIRs. 

These words are being used mechanically by the police without knowing the meaning and without proper application of mind. There is no need for the police to show their knowledge of Urdu and Persian, he said. Moreover, the public may not be able to understand all these Urdu or Persian words; therefore, the list of such words is required to be supplied to a person seeking a copy of the FIR so that he can understand the contents. The practice of using these words in the FIR ought to be stopped by the police, the Court observed.

“…we deem it appropriate to clarify that we have not opined against the use of Urdu words per se. Every language is entitled to command its own respect, and we are conscious of the richness of Urdu as a language. We only seek to emphasize that an FIR, by its very nature, has to be worded in a manner as would make it comprehensible to the common man. An FIR is the starting point of the criminal investigative process, and usage of archaic expressions, which the common man rarely-if-ever-uses, can have serious repercussions on the efficiency and efficacy of the criminal justice delivery system. We, therefore, clarify that while the use of Urdu words of common usage, like kitaab, ilzaam, hawaalat, etc., may be permissible, obscure and archaic expressions can find no place in an FIR,” the Court said.

With these observations, the writ petition was disposed of, the order of December 2019 reads. Despite such an order, it is a wonder that such words were still being used. 

—By Shivam Sharma and India Legal Bureau