Bombay high court upholds renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad

The division bench ruled that the state government’s decision did not suffer from any illegality or other vice, and therefore did not warrant the court’s intervention

The Bombay high court has dismissed two separate public interest litigations (PILs) challenging the Maharashtra state government’s decision to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv, respectively.

The petitioners claimed that the attempt to rename the city was intended to create a rift among the masses. (File photo)

On Wednesday, the division bench of chief justice DK Upadhyaya and justice Arif Doctor ruled that the state government’s decision did not suffer from any illegality or other vice, and therefore did not warrant the court’s intervention.

Residents of Aurangabad had approached the high court with a PIL, challenging the 16 July 2023 decision to rename the city.

The petition argued that the city was named Aurangabad during the reign of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and was widely accepted by its residents until now.

The petitioners claimed that the attempt to rename the city was intended to create a rift among the masses by political parties and destroy the Muslim heritage and culture associated with the city.

The PIL, filed by Mohammed Mustaq Ahmed, Annasaheb Khandare, and Rajesh More through Judicare Law Associates, stated that the petitioners had been opposing attempts to change the city’s name from Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar since 1995 when the state government first initiated the procedure to rename the city.

The petition noted that although the city’s name was previously Khirki and was later changed to Khujista Buniyad during Shah Jahan’s rule, the name Aurangabad came to be coined and accepted during Aurangzeb’s reign. The petitioners claimed that people belonging to different religions had been living in harmony in the city until Shiv Sena started demanding the name change to Sambhajinagar in 1988.

The petition further alleged that previous attempts to change the name were thwarted as the Supreme Court had directed a status quo, but in June 2021, the Thackeray government arbitrarily changed the name without following due procedure and in violation of the rules of natural justice and the Constitution of India.

A similar PIL was filed by some residents of Osmanabad challenging the decision to rename the city and the revenue district as Dharashiv.