New Delhi: Amid growing clamour for changing the names of cities, a bill which seeks to rechristen the iconic high courts of Madras, Calcutta and Bombay has run into trouble, and a fresh one has to be introduced in the Parliament to do the same.
The High Court (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016, to change the names of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay High Courts to Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai High Courts, respectively.
However, the Tamil Nadu government has asked the Centre to rename the Madras High Court to 'High Court of Tamil Nadu' instead of 'High Court of Chennai' as proposed in the bill.
While the West Bengal government wants the Calcutta High Court to be renamed as Kolkata High Court.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha in December 2016, Minister of State for Law P P Chaudhary had said the old bill would have to be revised and a new bill introduced.
A senior Law Ministry functionary said, "no forward movement" has been made in this regard and the new bill was unlikely to be brought in the Winter Session beginning December 11.