The Supreme Court in the case Mohammed Mushtaq Ahmed v. State of Maharashtra observed and has refused to entertain a petition challenging the renaming of the city of Aurangabad to ‘Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’ wherein challenging the matter had been seized of by the High Court of Bombay.
The bench comprising of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala was hearing the present matter.
In the present case, the petition was challenged wherein the approval was granted by the Union of India and the State of Maharashtra to the letter of the Divisional Commissioner, Aurangabad dated 04.03.2020, wherein the court proposed that the name of the city of Aurangabad be changed to ‘Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’. The court was also informed by Senior Advocate Birendra Saraf, appearing for State of Maharashtra that the matter was listed before the Bombay High Court on 27.03.2023, wherein it has been decided by the court that it would not entertain the plea.
Further, the petition filed also challenged that in 1996 a similar attempt of renaming Aurangabad. Thus, the petition stated that the said matter travelled up to the Top Court, the court granted the leave, and status quo was ordered by the court. The State Government withdrawn the notification and then the matter became infructuous. Before the court, it has been argued by the petitioner that the present attempt to rename the city was again challenged by him through a PIL which was pending in the High Court of Bombay. The Union of India granted approval to the proposed change in the name of city, the court stated while ignoring the pendency of the petition.
Adding to it, the petition stated that the State of Maharashtra on the very same day on 24.02.2023 also issued notifications wherein officially changing the name of City Aurangabad, Taluka and District – Aurangabad, the Maharashtra to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Taluka and District – Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Therefore, on the very same day, the State Government issued a notification under Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, calling for objections to draft notification renaming the revenue divisions of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar.