Bombay, Madras HCs to be named after their cities

 The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal to rename the high courts of Bombay and Madras after their cities.

Following the Law Ministry’s proposal in view of the long-pending demand, the Cabinet decided to rename the high courts of Bombay and Madras as Mumbai High Court and Chennai High Court, respectively.

Both Bombay and Madras were renamed Mumbai and Chennai in the 1990s.
The proposal of the Department of Justice in the Law Ministry is to bring in a bill – The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill 2016 – to rename the two courts established in the 1860s under Indian High Court Act, 1861. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the name of the Calcutta High Court, too, would be changed to Kolkata High Court, but an official release issued later mentioned only the Madras and the Bombay high courts.

Soon, ‘Kolkata HC’

There have also been demands to rename the Calcutta High Court as Kolkata High Court.
The Calcutta High Court has the distinction of being the first high court and one of the three chartered high courts to be set up in India, along with the high courts of Bombay and Madras. It was formally opened on July 1, 1862.