On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court upheld the Maharashtra government's notifications, which formally changed the names of Aurangabad city and its surrounding revenue areas to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Osmanabad city and its associated revenue areas to Dharashiv.

Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor, presiding over a division bench, rejected a series of petitions contesting the Maharashtra government's notifications regarding the altered names.

The petitions, comprising public interest litigations (PILs) and a variety of writ petitions, contested the renaming of both Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities, along with their associated revenue areas, including districts, sub-divisions, talukas, and villages.

In June 2022, during its final cabinet session, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, led by former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, approved the renaming of Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar and Osmanabad city to Dharashiv. However, the subsequent Shinde-Fadnavis administration revisited the renaming decision, opting to expand the renaming of Aurangabad to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar by appending the prefix "Chhatrapati."

The renaming of revenue areas comes under Section 4 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966. This section empowers the State Government to modify the boundaries of any revenue area, abolish existing revenue areas, and assign new names to them as deemed necessary.

On February 24, 2023, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs granted approval for the renaming of Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities. However, at that point, the renaming process for the district and revenue authorities was still underway. On the same day, the state government issued a draft notification, soliciting objections from the general public regarding the proposed renaming of the revenue areas in Aurangabad and Osmanabad.

On August 30, 2023, the High Court resolved a group of petitions disputing the proposed renaming of the revenue areas, noting that the new names had not yet been officially notified. However, the challenge to the new names of the cities remained unresolved.

Just over two weeks later, on September 15, 2023, the renaming of the Aurangabad and Osmanabad revenue areas was formally announced. Subsequently, new petitions were submitted contesting the new names of these revenue areas.

The petitions opposing the renaming were filed on the basis that the decision disregarded public sentiments and violated constitutional provisions.  It was further alleged that the name is being changed to spread hatred towards Muslims and gain political advantage.

The PILs argued that the renaming was motivated by political considerations and exacerbated religious tensions. Specifically, the petitioner in the PIL contesting the renaming of Aurangabad asserted that there is an ongoing campaign in Maharashtra aimed at renaming cities with Muslim names.

The Maharashtra government countered this contention, asserting that the naming of a city after a revered figure (as in the case of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) who holds significance for the entire state is not motivated by religious considerations.

In its affidavit opposing the PIL challenging the renaming of Osmanabad, the state government informed the court that the decision to rename Osmanabad city as Dharashiv was widely celebrated by the majority of the city's residents. It asserted that this renaming process did not compromise the principles of secularism nor did it lead to any communal tensions.

Case no. – Public Interest Litigation Nos. 93 and 173 of 2022 with connected matters

Case Title – Mohammed Mushtaq Ahmed v. Union of India and Ors. with Shaikh Masud Ismail Shaikh and Ors v. Union of India and Ors. with connected matters