The Supreme Court on Friday denied to entertain a petition challenging the renaming of Aurangabad to ‘Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’, citing that the case had been seized of by the Bombay High Court.
The matter was listed before a bench comprised of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala.
The plea filed by Mohammed Mushtaq Ahmed challenged the approval granted by the Union of India and the State of Maharashtra to the letter of the Divisional Commissioner, Aurangabad dated 4 March 2020 which recommended that the name of Aurangabad be changed to ‘Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’.
Nevertheless, when Senior Advocate Birendra Saraf, appearing on behalf of the State informed the bench that the matter was listed before the Bombay High Court on 27th March 2023, but the court decided that it would not entertain the plea.
Advocate Fuzail Ayyubi contended, “Mr Sibal is appearing in the matter now. Please take it up on Monday.”
However, the court was not inclined to take up the matter. CJI DY Chandrachud stated, “Appear before the Bombay High Court now. The High Court is seized of the matter.”
According to the petitioner, he challenged a similar attempt to rename Aurangabad in 1996. The petition stated that the case was heard by the Supreme Court, where leave was granted and the status quo was ordered. Nevertheless, the notification was later revoked by the state government, rendering the case infructuous.
According to the plea, he had previously challenged the current attempt to rename the city through a PIL pending in the High Court of Bombay. Notwithstanding the fact that the petition was still pending, the Union of India approved the planned name change.
“The State of Maharashtra also issued notifications on the same day, 24.02.2023, legally altering the name of City Aurangabad, Taluka and District – Aurangabad, Maharashtra to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Taluka and District – Aurangabad, Maharashtra. On the same day, the state government filed a notification under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Law, 1966, soliciting comments on a draft regulation renaming the Aurangabad revenue divisions Sambhajinagar,” the petition further claimed.
