Bombay HC upholds Maharashtra govt's decision to rename Aurangabad, Osmanabad

Bombay High Court/ File Photo

The Bombay High Court dismissed various petitions challenging the Maharashtra government's decision to rename Aurangabad district as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv, saying, "What's in a name."

The bench consisting of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor dismissed the applications, claiming that the government's notification for renaming did not warrant interference, reported PTI.

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According to the PTI report, the bench quoting Shakespeare's famous line from Romeo and Juliet that a location or object's essence is unaffected by its name.

The court emphasised that the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code allows the government to change the names of revenue regions, assuring the legality of the renaming procedure. The court also stated that it lacks the necessary tools to adjudicate name alterations unless the proposed name is deemed "atrocious."

The Bombay HC, per the PTI report, said, "We have no hesitation to hold that the notification issued by the state government renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad does not suffer from any illegality or any legal vice."

The bench further stated, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

"As to by what name a particular object or place is to be known cannot be judicially reviewed unless the name so proposed is atrocious," the high court said.

In 2022, the Maharashtra cabinet led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde approved renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad based on historical significance; the two districts were renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv. In February 2023, the Union Home Ministry approved, prompting the state government to issue a gazette announcement.

Residents of Aurangabad and Osmanabad filed petitions protesting the name changes, citing political motivations. However, the government justified the judgements by using historical context rather than political motivations.

The government, in their affidavit, had told the HC, "The state government has complied with all the necessary procedures involved in effecting change of name. The decision to change the name of Osmanabad to Dharashiv neither leads to any religious and communal hatred nor creates any rift between religious groups."

"As per the story in Skand Puran, there was a devil in Dharashiv village namely Dharasur, who was killed by the goddess Saraswati. Due to this goddess Saraswati was known as Dharasur Mardini and the name of this village became Dharashiv. The village Dharashiv has been known as such from an ancient period," the affidavit further said.

With PTI inputs