The Bombay High Court on Monday held that it will hear petitions challenging the renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities on March 24,2023.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjay V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep V Marne granted liberty to petitioners to amend the pleas within a week to challenge the notification of February 24 allowing the renaming of Aurangabad city as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad city as Dharashiv, along with the Union Home Ministry letter giving no-objection to the state’s proposal.
The Union government informed the high court on February 15 that it has already approved the name change of Osmanabad to Dharashiv, while the name change of Aurangabad to Shambhaji Nagar is still in the process.
However, the Union government declared on Monday that both names have been accepted, giving the petitioners the right to challenge the Union’s NOC (No Objection Certificate) for this name change.
Advocate Pradnya Talekar, appearing on behalf of a group of petitioners, stated that the government was already in the process of changing the names of revenue divisions, railway stations, municipal corporations, and so on, which caused the illegality. The petitioners also requested a status quo or a halt to the proceedings.
Dr Birendra Saraf, the Advocate General of Maharashtra, opposed it, pointing out that the state had released a draught notification for altering the name of the revenue division and that the deadline for expressing objections was March 27, 2023.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne then scheduled hearing on March 27 for the petitions to be ultimately determined before the government makes any further decisions.
The state government authorised the renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv, respectively, on July 16, 2022.
Mohammed Mushtaq Ahmed, Annasaheb Khandare, and Rajesh More, citizens of Aurangabad, submitted a petition against the government’s intention to rename the city, while 17 inhabitants of Osmanabad filed a PIL opposing the renaming of their community to Dharashiv.
Both the petitions described the government’s decision as “politically motivated.”
