Supreme Court Upholds Renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected appeals challenging the Maharashtra Government’s decision to rename the city and revenue divisions of Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv, respectively.

A bench consisting of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti upheld the Bombay High Court’s order, deeming it well-reasoned.

The bench noted that differing opinions on such matters are inevitable and stated that the court cannot address these opinions through judicial review. “Should courts solve it by judicial review? If they have the power to name and rename, it is a reasoned order (of the Bombay High Court). Why should it be faulted?” the Court questioned.

In May, the Bombay High Court had dismissed petitions challenging the renaming of the cities. The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, led by Uddhav Thackeray, had decided to rename Aurangabad to ‘Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’ and Osmanabad to ‘Dharashiv’ in a cabinet meeting on June 29, 2021. The new government under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde reaffirmed this decision on July 16, 2022.

Following this, several petitions were filed in the High Court by individuals, including residents of the affected districts. The Maharashtra government argued that renaming ‘Osmanabad’ to ‘Dharashiv’ did not incite religious or communal hatred or cause any discord among religious groups.

The High Court dismissed these petitions, leading to the appeal before the Supreme Court.

Advocate SB Talekar, representing the petitioners, argued that the procedure prescribed under relevant rules was not followed. He pointed out that there was no draft notification inviting objections and suggestions, as required by the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code. The appeal to the apex court was filed through Advocate Pulkit Agarwal.