Bombay HC dismisses pleas challenging name change of Aurangabad, Osmanabad
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed petitions challenging notifications issued by the government officially renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv. The court held that notifications issued by the state government do not suffer from any illegality and petitions were dismissed as “bereft of merit”.
A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor 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.”
While rejecting the petitions, the bench also quoted William Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and said, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
At least 15 pleas were filed in the high court challenging the renaming of cities as well as revenue areas (District, Sub-Division, Taluka, Villages). The pleas argued that the decision disregarded public sentiments and violated constitutional provisions.
The decision to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv was taken during the last Cabinet meeting of the then MVA government on June 29, 2022, hours before Thackeray stepped down as the chief minister. The Eknath Shinde government reaffirmed it on July 16, 2022.
Mr Shinde welcomed the high court ruling and said those opposing the move were linked to the MVA. He said the renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad approved in June 2022 by the then-Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was illegal as the coalition had already lost its majority and the governor has asked Mr. Thackeray to face a trust vote in the Assembly.
“The Bombay High Court has given recognition to the renaming of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv. The dream of late Balasaheb Thackeray has been fulfilled. Some of the people who opposed this decision and went to the court were from the MVA,” Mr. Shinde said.
