Bombay HC & Maharashtra-Goa Govts Favoured Renaming To 'Mumbai High Court'; Madras HC Opposed 'High Court Of Tamil Nadu' Proposal: Law Ministry

The Union Law Ministry has informed the Rajya Sabha that there is currently no proposal pending to introduce legislation regarding the potential renaming of certain High Courts in the country.

The statement was made in the written reply filed by Minister of Law and Justice (Independent Charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal in response to a query raised by Rajya Sabha Member C. V. Shanmugam regarding the changing of the name of the High Court in Tamil Nadu and as to whether Government has plans to change the names of some High Courts of States in the country.

The response filed to the aforementioned query indicates that the Government intended to rename High Courts, including Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Orissa, and Gauhati to Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Odisha, and Guwahati, respectively and consultations were conducted with the State Governments and High Courts for this purpose.

However, the reply states, that though the Government of Tamil Nadu suggested renaming the Madras High Court to the "High Court of Tamil Nadu," the Madras High Court did not agree to the same.

On the other hand, both the Calcutta High Court and the State Government of West Bengal did not agree to the proposed change in the name of Calcutta High Court, the reply adds.

Interestingly, the reply further discloses that the State Government of Maharashtra and Goa and the Bombay High Court agreed to the proposal to change the name of Bombay High Court to Mumbai High Court. Even the Orissa High Court & State Government of Odisha as well as Gauhati High Court and State Government of Assam also conveyed no objection to the proposal to change the name of the respective High Courts.

In his reply, the Union Law Minister has also stated that the Union Government brought 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 19th July 2016, however, the bill could not be taken further and lapsed due to dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.

The reply also acknowledges that the Supreme Court last year dismissed a plea to change the name of the Bombay High Court to Maharashtra High Court

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