The Bombay High Court on Monday refused urgent hearing in pleas challenging the renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv, respectively.
A division bench of Justices Prasanna B Varale and Kishore C Sant said there are many holidays in August and therefore the government will not work. “Nothing will be done with any electrifying speed (by the government) as apprehended by the petitioners,” the bench orally remarked and posted further hearing to August 23.
The court was hearing PILs filed by Aurangabad residents Mohammed Mustaq Ahmed, Annasaheb Khandare and Rajesh More, who are social activists and educationists. The petition claimed that the state government had aborted its attempt to change the name of the city in 2001, but last month former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s Cabinet passed a decision in an unauthorised manner for political considerations. It added that the decision was reaffirmed by current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on July 16.
While the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Thackeray had changed the name of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar, the Shinde government added the prefix ‘Chhatrapati’ to it. The plea said the decision was in complete disregard of the Constitution and urged that it be declared null and void.
Subscriber Only Stories
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, hours before Uddhav Thackeray stepped down as the chief minister. Shinde had subsequently said that the decisions were taken when the MVA government did not have a majority and were thus illegal.
The PIL filed through Judicare Law Associates pointed out that through press reports, during the last week of June, they came to know about the government’s decision to change the name of the city. The petitioners sought copies of the documents about the decision, but got no response.
“During the Maratha rule and/or British rule, nobody demanded to change the name of Aurangabad. However, after the formation of Shiv Sena and other political parties to polarise the society on religious and sectarian lines for their political gain… started picking up the issue of changing the name of Aurangabad from the year 1988… The present government without there being any reason is obliquely trying to change the name of Aurangabad,” the plea claimed.
The petitioner said the city has a history and rich culture and parties including the Shiv Sena have been trying to change the name for political mileage. The plea sought to declare the July 16 decision of the state government and the recommendation of the divisional commissioner of Aurangabad and the 2020 resolution of the municipal corporation towards changing the name of the city to be declared null and void and be set aside.
Pending the hearing, the plea also sought directions to restrain respondent authorities from changing the name of Aurangabad.
Moreover, nearly 16 residents of Osmanabad have filed another PIL claiming that the decision to rename the city was not just arbitrary but was taken in haste against Constitutional mandates. It said that the decision will have several implications and would result in breach of peace and tranquility in Osmanabad as well as in Maharashtra.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/bombay-hc-refuses-urgent-hearing-in-pils-challenging-renaming-of-aurangabad-osmanabad-8063626/
