Legislation to rename Bombay HC in drafting stage, Govt says

The Government is working on a legislation to rename Bombay and Madras High Courts to Mumbai High Court and Chennai High Court. 

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of Law and Justice D V Sadananda Gowda said that the ministry is drafting the proposal which will be placed before the parliament for approval soon. He said, "These High Courts (Bombay and Madras) were established under the Indian High Courts Act, 1861 and were named after the cities where the courts were located. Both the cities of Bombay and Madras have since been renamed as Mumbai and Chennai respectively. Since, the Indian High Courts Act, 1861 has been repealed, central legislation is required for changing in the name of Bombay High Court and Madras High Court which is at drafting stage."

​The minister informed the Parliament that the state governments of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have infact requested the name changes of their respective high courts. 

He said, "The State Government of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have requested for changing in the name of “Bombay High Court” as “Mumbai High Court” and “Madras High Court” as “Chennai High Court” respectively."

BJP's ally in Maharashtra--Shiv Sena--have been demanding the change of name of Bombay High Court for quite some time now. The Shiv Sena MPs, in the memorandum to the PM, said that hey have been pursuing the demand for the name change for several years and have also sent several proposals regarding the same to the Union government.

The Sena MPs said that if the Central government takes the decision to rename it as Mumbai High Court, it will be a major achievement for the NDA government.

The Bombay High court and the Chennai High Court were set up under the Indian High Act in 1861. 

Read the full reply here.