The Bombay High Court asked the Maharashtra government on Monday to reply within two weeks to a public-interest petition opposing the changing of a metro station’s name from Pathanwadi to Dindoshi.
The petition, filed by the social organisation Naee Roshni through advocate Sahood Anwar Naqvi, challenged the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)’s July 18, 2019 order to revise the station names on lines 2A and 7 of the Mumbai Metro. The organisation claimed that the renaming was in “sheer violation of the policy framed by the MMRDA pertaining to naming metro stations”.
The organisation alleged that the name was changed under undue political pressure from two MLAs, Atul Bhatkhalkar and Sunil Prabhu, despite RTI replies stating that Dindoshi is a revenue village and not the nearest wadi. It said the renaming was “arbitrary”, affected the sentiments of Pathanwadi residents and was against their constitutional rights.
The court directed the organisation on June 9 to deposit Rs 1 lakh as a precondition to hear its petition. On Monday the organisation informed a bench of Justice Anil K Menon and Justice Makarand S Karnik that the deposit had been made, after which the court granted two weeks for the government to file its reply.
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Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/bombay-hc-seeks-maharashtra-reply-to-plea-against-metro-station-renaming-8008058/
