Supreme Court dismisses plea to change name of Bombay High Court to Maharashtra High Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking directions to the Central government to change the name of Bombay High Court to Maharashtra High Court [VP Patil vs Union of India and ors].

A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Vikram Nath rejected the plea filed by one VP Patil, a former judicial officer of the State.

The Bombay High Court is one of the four chartered High Courts in India established during the British rule in India by way of Letters Patent issued by the Queen of England.

It, therefore, still carries the name by which it was established.

The plea, filed through advocate Shivaji M Jadhav, states that without such a renaming the 'cultural assertion' of Maharashtrians remains in jeopardy. The right to live with dignity is invoked in this regard as the petitioner states that putting Maharashtra in the name will 'fructify' the dignity of its residents.

It relies on the High Court (Alteration of Names) Bill of 2016 that was introduced in Parliament.

The Supreme Court was moved since the petitioners pointed out that the High Court could not adjudicate a case in which it was a party.

The petitioner also prays that steps be taken to preserve the culture, heritage and traditions of Maharashtrians and issue similar renaming directions for other High Courts not named after the States of their principal seat.

Advocate Qurratulain appeared for the petitioner. Advocate Nicholas Choudhury assisted in drafting the petition.