People in Osmanabad celebrated after change of name to Dharashiv: Maharashtra to Bombay High Court

Majority of people in the city of Osmanabad celebrated after the name of the city was changed to Dharashiv, the Maharashtra government said in an affidavit filed before the Bombay High Court on Monday [Shaikh Masud Ismail Shaikh & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.].The general administration department of the State filed its affidavit in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed challenging the name change of Osmanabad city in Maharashtra. The affidavit claimed that the change in the name of ‘Osmanabad’ to ‘Dharashiv’ neither led to any religious or communal hatred nor did it cause any rift between religious groups.“To the contrary, majority of the people celebrated after change of name of Osmanabad to Dharashiv,” the affidavit said. .The State also filed a separate affidavit opposing the PIL challenging the name change of Aurangabad city to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar..Both affidavits pointed out that the PILs should not be entertained by the principal bench of the High Court but should be heard by the Aurangabad bench which has the territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter.“The present PILs ought not to be entertained before the Principal Seat of this Hon’ble Court since the territorial jurisdiction of this Bench is not extended to Aurangabad. the Bench of this Hon'ble Court at Aurangabad shall have the territorial jurisdiction to entertain this PIL,” the affidavit underscored. .The affidavit specifically denied allegations that the change of name is a politically motivated move for the purpose of hate mongering towards a community and consequently undermining the spirit of secularism..The erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government under Uddhav Thackeray had decided to rename both Aurangabad and Osmanabad in June 2022.After change in government, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde termed the decision as illegal. But in July 2022, the new government decided to go ahead with the decision. Thereafter, the present petitions were challenging the renaming of Aurangabad and renaming of Osmanabad claiming that the decision was in complete disregard for the provisions of the Constitution..During the hearing today, a division bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne was informed that the notifications changing name of the two cities have already been issued. Advocate General Dr Birendra Saraf informed that the State has now issued draft notification for renaming of the districts and village revenue divisions in the districts of Osmanabad and Aurangabad, and it was now at the stage of receiving objections. When the petitioners sought a stay on that process, Saraf explained that the objection procedure would take about 8 weeks to conclude and so there would no step towards issuing final notification till then. The Court then listed the matter for hearing in April 2023.