The Supreme Court on 5th April dismissed a petition filed against the renaming of Aurangabad. During this he also made sharp remarks. While hearing the matter, the bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala said, "who are we to change the name of a city or a road?" This decision has to be taken by the elected government...'.
The Supreme Court said that whether we like it or not, but the right to change the name of any city comes under the democratic purview of the government. The Supreme Court, while rejecting the petition, said that the matter is still sub-judice before the Bombay High Court. During the hearing, Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde said on a humorous side that "the High Court is still known as Bombay.".
Name of Aurangabad was changed to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. For a long time there was a demand to change the name of the city. Aurangabad was named after the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. From AIMIM to Asaduddin Owaisi's party, all political parties are opposing the name change. A petition was first filed in the High Court against the name change. Then the application was filed in the Supreme Court.
Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution of India provides for the process of renaming any state or city. According to Articles 3 and 4, if the government wants to change the name of a state, then a bill has to be brought in the Parliament for this. Before the bill, opinion is also sought from the assembly of the concerned state. There was a fixed time limit for this. However, the opinion of the state is not binding on the President or the Parliament. After the opinion of the state, the bill is introduced in the Parliament and after passing it is sent to the President for approval.
In the same way, Government can decide to change the name of a city or a road. For this, any public representative can give a proposal to the government. If the public also raises a demand, then the government can consider this demand as well.
Controversy has been about Uttar Pradesh, where names of many cities like Faizabad to Allahabad were changed. But the figures, since independence till now reveals an interesting story. The State of Andhra Pradesh has done the some for the maximum number and names of total 76 places have been changed in Andhra Pradesh alone. Similarly, names of 26 places in Kerala and in Tamil Nadu were changed. So far 18 places have been renamed in Maharashtra.
A huge amount is also spent in changing the name of a city. First there is the gazette notification. After this, names have to be changed from all documents to signage hoardings etc. According to the report of Dainik Bhaskar, on an average Rs 300 crore is spent in changing the name of any city. If the city is big then the amount also increases.
Case details:-
SLP (C) No. 5672/2023
MOHAMMAD HISHAM OSMANI & ANR.
VERSUS
THE UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
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