A bench headed by Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor of Bombay HC has dismissed a couple of petitions against the Maharashtra government's decision to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad. The bench said that the notification issued by the state government, which renamed Aurangabad district as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv does not warrant any interference.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's cabinet in 2022 had undertaken the renaming exercise. The Union Home Ministry approved the decision in February 2023 by issuing a no-objection letter. A gazette notification carried out renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad.
This decision was followed by opposition from residents of Aurangabad and Osmanad who took to court, deeming the renaming as 'politically motivated'. The petitions were dismissed as they were devoid of any merit, the High Court said while adding that the renaming does not contain any legal vice or illegality. The state government had defended its decision by claiming that the renaming decision was due to the history of the two places and did not involve any political agenda.