Calcutta High Court opposes name change by Union Cabinet

Newstrack
Published on: 2 Aug 2016 4:09 PM GMT
Calcutta High Court opposes name change by Union Cabinet
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Kolkata: The union government’s proposal to rename Calcutta High Court as Kolkata HC was unanimously rejected by the seven-member bench of the High Court. According to reports, the decision has been communicated to the state law ministry on Monday.

In a letter to the Incorporated Law Society of Calcutta (ILSC) as per direction of the Chief Justice of HC, the High Court Registrar General Sugato Majumdar stated, “The Full Court of High Court at Calcutta in a meeting has unanimously declined to accept the proposal of the Government of India for changing the name of ‘High Court of Judicature at Calcutta’ to ‘High Court of Judicature at Kolkata’ in view of long history and tradition associated with the existing name of the High Court at Calcutta.”

High Court’s opposition to name change proposal:

  • Suranjan Dasgupta, the general secretary of Calcutta High Court Bar Association said, “We are totally in favour of the resolution of the Full Court in this regard.”
  • The lawyers of the court have decided to fight a legal battle with the Central Government on this issue. Other lawyer associations of the country are also not in favour of this name change. “The union government should work on proposals as to how to expedite the large number of cases pending in the courts by appointing new judges. Rather they are wasting time on such frivolous issues,” said well-known advocate Subir Dutta Gupta.
  • We will appeal to President Pranab Mukherjee on this issue and considering his values he will also understand our views,” said RK Khanna, president of ILSC. He added that the name Calcutta, Bombay and Madras have their own grandeur and tradition, dignity and heritage and it should not be lost in oblivion.
  • “Also, worldwide, in shipping, banking and other commercial businesses, these High Courts are known in these names. Changing it would mean changing to Kolkata worldwide,” said Khanna.

About Calcutta high court and the government order:

  • Established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William in 1862, the Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India and is in its 154th year of existence.
  • The HC was established on May 14, under the High Court’s Act, 1861 and has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
  • It may be mentioned that earlier, on July 5, the Union Cabinet had approved the introduction of the ‘The High Court’s [Alteration of Names] Bill, 2016’ in Parliament. According to this bill the names of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras High Courts were renamed as Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai respectively.

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