Centre should name HC after state, says TN Assembly

The Tamil Nadu Assembly passed an unanimous resolution to ask the Union government to amend the bill introduced in the Lok Sabha to rename the Madras High Court as the High Court of Tamil Nadu.

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said the change of name was taken up at the Assembly based on an overwhelming public response.

“The Government of India has introduced ‘The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016’ in the Lok Sabha on July,19, 2016, in order to rename the High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras,” she said. “As per the bill, from the appointed day, the High Court of Madras shall be known as the High Court of Chennai,” Jayalalithaa said.

Madras was renamed as Chennai by way of a resolution in 1996. The resolution pointed out that the name Chennai would refer to the city and the high court has jurisdiction on the whole of Tamil Nadu.

Following the 1956 linguistic division of the state through a state reorganisation bill, all the high courts were named after the states, it mentioned.

With the High Court of Madras having a division bench functioning in Madurai, it would not be appropriate to name a court with jurisdiction on the whole state as tghe High Court of Chennai, the resolution said.