Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The final hearing on the petitions challenging the renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad will be held before the principal bench comprising the chief justice of Bombay High Court Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor on October 4 and 5 respectively.
The petitioner Shaikh Masood Shaikh Ismail has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the renaming of Osmanabad (city and district) to Dharashiv. When the petition came up for hearing on Thursday, the Advocate General brought into notice that the final decision regarding the changing of name has not been made so far. Hence the petition should be disposed of as it is challenging the draft notification for renaming Osmanabad district, sub-division, taluka and village.
He also brought to notice that the objections were invited from citizens through the draft notification of February 24, 2023. They were under consideration of the State Government and no final decision has been taken on it. Hence petitions challenging such draft notification cannot be entertained.
In connection with the renaming of the Osmanabad district, Adv Satish Talekar argued, the official notification (usually) is released after receiving the directives from the Central Government or at least seeking approval of the union Ministry of Home Affairs to it.
Giving a reference, Adv Talekar stressed that the State Government has the right to change the name of a city or district. It should not have taken the decision on its own without seeking consultation of the Central Government or its permission. In this context the issue of renaming becomes illegal. Hence the High Court accepted that there is a need to take decision on the petition challenging the renaming of the city.
Meanwhile, the advocates were asked to prepare brief notes of arguments along with the points covered in the petition and submit compilation of documents and judgments to the court.