PIL filed to rename Allahabad High Court as High Court of Uttar Pradesh

A lawyer has moved a public interest litigation (PIL) petition before the Allahabad High Court to rename the Court as the High Court of Uttar Pradesh [Deepanker Kumar v. Union of India]..The plea by Lucknow-based advocate Deepanker Kumar, which has been filed through his counsel Asok Pandey, argues that the practice of naming a High Court after the city in which it was established was a practice adopted by British colonial rulers.Such a practice should not continue in independent Bharat, more so after the adoption of its Constitution, the petitioner contended. ."All the High Courts in the country are the creation of the Constitution and not of some law made or charter issued by the 'Invader' British Government and so, after the Constitution came into being, it was duty of the Government to re-name the existing High Courts after the name of the State to which they belong," the plea stated..Kumar has, therefore, urged the High Court to direct the Central Government and other relevant authorities to refer to the Allahabad High Court as the "High Court of Uttar Pradesh" in all notifications, communications, judgments, orders, and decrees.The plea has also urged for directions to rename the Allahabad High Court Rules, 1952 as the Uttar Pradesh High Court Rules. .Furthermore, the petitioner argued that the ambiguity regarding the correct name of the Allahabad High Court has caused confusion among the advocates, the general public, State officials, judges and court registry officials. While some refer to the Court as the Allahabad High Court, others choose to call it the High Court of Uttar Pradesh, the petitioner said. In this regard, a reference was made to the Supreme Court of India's reference to the High Court as the High Court of Uttar Pradesh in a 1964 case (Keshav Singh, Presidential Reference No. 1 of 1964). .Notably, the petitioner has also submitted that the division of jurisdiction between the two Benches of the Allahabad High Court needs a relook. This, the petitioner argued, is because the Allahabad High Court Amalgamation Order 1948 (which merged the then Chief Court of Oudh with the High Court of Allahabad) has ceased to operate since the implementation of the Constitution in 1950.“The vesting of jurisdiction between the both benches of this High Court (at Lucknow and Prayagraj) was through this amalgamation order and as no order by the President has been issued on this issue as like other high courts having benches … legally speaking, there is no valid order which divides the jurisdiction between both the benches. So the necessary directions to the concerned authorities needs to issued by this Hon'ble court on judicial side," the petition stated. However, this aspect has not been specifically pressed by the petitioner since another PIL (Asok Pandey and ors v. Union of Bharat and ors) filed on this issue in 2021 is already pending before the High Court. .Plea challenging decision to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj: Supreme Court issues notice