No proposal at present to change name of various high courts: Centre in Rajya Sabha

In July 2016, the government had brought the 'High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill to change the names of the high courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras as high courts of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai respectively

New Delhi: There is no proposal at present to change the name of various high courts, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

In July 2016, the government had brought the ‘High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill to change the names of the high courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras as high courts of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai respectively.

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Later, some fresh names were added to the list. But amid divergent views, the bill could not be taken further and lapsed due to dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply.

Giving out the history of the proposal to alter the names of some of high courts, he said with the enactment of the city of Madras (Alteration of Name) Act, 1996, the city of Madras was renamed as Chennai, following which the Tamil Nadu government sent a proposal for changing the name of the Madras High Court to the High Court of Chennai in 1997.

Since the names of the cities of Bombay and Calcutta were also changed to Mumbai and Kolkata, and the respective high courts of the states are located in these cities, it was considered appropriate to change the names of these two high courts as well, he pointed out.

“The government brought a legislation titled ‘The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016’ regarding changing the names of High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras as High Courts of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai respectively, and the same was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016,” he said.

Meanwhile, Meghwal noted, that the name of Orissa was changed to Odisha and the city of Gauhati to Guwahati.

It was decided to propose the change in name of the high courts of Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Orissa and Gauhati as Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Odisha and Guwahati, respectively.

To give effect to the new changes, consultations were carried out with the state governments concerned and the high courts.

Later, the Tamil Nadu government conveyed that the Madras High Court be rechristened as the High Court of Tamil Nadu. The Madras High Court, however, did not agree to the proposal to change of name.

The governments of Maharashtra and Goa, and the Bombay High Court agreed to the proposal to change the name of the Bombay High Court as Mumbai High Court.

The Orissa High Court and the Odisha government as well as Gauhati High Court and Assam government also conveyed no objection to the proposal to change the name of the respective high courts.

The Calcutta High Court and the West Bengal government, however, did not agree to the proposed change in name of the Calcutta High Court.

“The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016 could not be taken further and lapsed due to dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.

“At present there is no proposal to bring legislation on this subject,” the minister said.