It’s Aurangabad for now, says HC

The Bombay high court has restrained the use of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar in official communications and records until a petition challenging the renaming of Aurangabad is resolved. The state has been asked to refrain from using the new name until the hearing on June 7.

State asked to refrain from using Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar until court decides on petition

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The Bombay high court on Monday restrained the state government from using Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, instead of Aurangabad, in official communications and records till it decides on a petition challenging the state’s decision to rename the historic city.

A division bench of acting chief justice SV Gangapurwala and justice SV Marne admitted a petition and intervention applications challenging the state’s July 16, 2022, order changing the names of Aurangabad city and district to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.

Hearing on the petition will begin on June 7.

Defence counsel Yusuf Muchhala claimed that there was a campaign to rename cities named after Muslim leaders and such acts were contrary to the Supreme Court observations in various cases. The chief minister had merely taken a decision for political gains without following due procedure laid down by the Central government, Muchhala said and added that such acts were initiated by vested interests to disrupt the harmony in the country.

In fact, the director of education and the police commissioner’s office as well as district and revenue officials had started using the new name, which was yet to be notified by the state, and even while a petition was pending hearing, Muchhala said.

After hearing the submissions, the HC said the officials should not have used the new name.

Reacting to the HC order, MLA from Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and cooperation minister Atul Save said, “The state will present its side properly before the court.”

The decision to rename Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv was taken in the last cabinet meeting of the then MVA government on June 29, 2022, hours before Uddhav Thackeray stepped down as the chief minister. However, the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government scrapped the decision, claiming it was taken when the earlier government was in minority. On July 16, the ruling alliance passed a fresh cabinet resolution to rename Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv.