'Central Govt' Is British Raj Phraseology, 'Union Govt' Gives More Unifying Sense: PIL In Delhi High Court To Change Terminology

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought Centre's stand on a public interest litigation seeking directions on it for using the expression "Union Government" instead of "Central Government" in all legislations, orders, notifications, Rules, executive actions and circulars.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the counsel appearing for the Centre (Ministry of Law & Justice) to obtain instructions in the matter, while posting it for further hearing after four weeks.

The Court was hearing a PIL filed by 84 years old Atmaram Saraogi, which also challenged the vires of Section 3(8)(b) of the General Clauses Act, 1897.

"Under our Constitution, India is a "UNION OF STATES", and there cannot be any conceptualization of a "Central Government" as existed under the British Raj. However, this archaic phraseology continues to be employed wholly contrary to our system of governance," the PIL read.

The PIL has been moved through Advocate Hemant Raj Phalpher and was argued by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarananrayanan.

The plea avers that while there is not a single reference of the term "Central Government" or "Centre" in the Constitution of India, the first references crept in only in amendments made from 2012 onwards.

"Article 1 of the Constitution of India used the words 'The Union and its Territory' and states that "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States". Interestingly, the terms 'Centre' or 'Central Government' have consciously not been used in any of the 395 articles divided in 22 parts and/or in eight schedules of the Constitution of India," it adds.

The plea also argues that the term 'Union Government' has a "unifying effect on the relationship of the Union and all the States" and would go a long way in "defying the false impression" that there is centralization of power in the Union Government.

"In other words, the word 'Centre' indicates a point in the middle of the circle giving a sense of a Federal Government, whereas 'Union' refers to the Whole Circle and denotes a sense of Unitary Government," the plea states.

Case Title: ATMARAM SARAOGI v. UNION OF INDIA