HC dismisses pleas against Maharashtra govt's decision to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a bunch of petitions challenging the Maharashtra government's decision to rename Aurangabad district as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv.

A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor said the notification issued by the state government does not warrant any interference.

"We have no hesitation to hold that the notification issued by the state government renaming Aurangabad and Osmanabad does not suffer from any illegality or any legal vice," the bench said.

The petitions are devoid of merits and hence stand dismissed, the high court said.

In 2022, the Maharashtra cabinet headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde approved the name of Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad as Dharashiv.

On July 16, 2022, a Government Resolution was passed by the two-member cabinet for changing names and then forwarded to the central government.

In February 2023, the Union Home Ministry gave a no objection letter for changing the names of the cities and districts and thereafter, a gazette notification was issued by the state government changing the names of Aurangabad and Osmanabad.

Several petitions were then filed by Aurangabad residents challenging the government's decision to rename the place as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Another PIL was filed by 17 residents of Osmanabad against the government's decision to rename it as Dharashiv.

Both the petitions termed the government's decision as "politically motivated".

The Maharashtra government had opposed the pleas, claiming the two places were renamed due to their history and not for any political reasons.