Delhi High Court Asks Centre To Comply With Supreme Court Order Directing It To Decide Representation Seeking To Rename India As 'Bharat'

The Delhi High Court has recently directed the Union Government to expeditiously comply with an order passed by the Supreme Court in 2020 directing that a petition seeking direction to change the name of the country as "Bharat" from "India" be treated as a representation.

Justice Sachin Datta was dealing with a plea filed by an organization Nahama seeking a direction on the Union Government to decide its representation on the issue.

It was the petitioner's case that since 2020, the representation has neither been considered nor decided by any of the department of the Union of India.

The counsel appearing for Namaha sought permission to withdraw the petition with leave to pursue the matter with the concerned Ministries for disposal of its representation in terms of the Supreme Court order.

Accordingly, the plea was dismissed as withdrawn.

“Needless to say, learned standing counsel for the Union of India shall appropriately convey to the concerned Ministries for expeditious compliance of the order/s passed by the Supreme Court,” the Court ordered.

The plea stated that after waiting for more than a year, the petitioner filed an application under Right to Information Act, 2005, seeking information about pendency and status of the representation.

In December 2021, the petitioner was informed that the matter was assigned to then ASG K.M. Natraj on June 03, 2020, and that the application may be transferred to CPIO, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, since the Union of India through Secretary, Parliament House was impleaded as respondent.

“That thereafter the petitioner has been running from pillar to post for getting the status of his representation which has neither been considered nor decided by any of the concerned department of the Union of India,” the plea stated.

It added that Article 21 of the Constitution of India entitles every citizen the equal right to call his own country as Bharat.

The petition contended that the English name “India” does not represent the culture and tradition of the country and that renaming it to “Bharat” would help citizens “shed colonial baggage.”

“…now the time is ripe to recognize the country by its original and authentic name i.e. BHARAT; especially when our cities have been renamed to identify with the Indian ethos,” the plea stated.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Sanjeev Sagar, Sr. Adv. alongwith Mr. Ashutosh Thakur, Mr. Amit Kashyap and Mr. Kunal Awana, Advocates

Counsel for Respondents: Ms. Nidhi Raman, CGSC alongwith Mr. Zubin Singh and Mr. Akash Mishra, Advocates for R1; Mr. Sandeep Kumar Mahapatra, CGSC alongwith Mr. Tribhuvan, Advocate for R3

Title: NAMAHA v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Click here to read order