The Tamil Nadu Assembly has chose to ask the Centre to rename Madras High Court as Tamil Nadu High Court instead of Chennai High Court, as has been planned. Instead, it may be called the Tamil Nadu High Court.
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All opposition parties, including the DMK and Congress, welcomed the special privilege motion and supported the motion. The demand came active in the state after the introduction of the Bill in the Lok Sabha that wants to change the names of Madras, Bombay and Culcatta High Courts.
Pointing out the resolution adopted in the Assembly on 18 July, 1967, seeking to rename Madras State, as mentioned in the Constitution, as Tamilnadu, Jayalalithaa said following this an Act was passed in Parliament in 1968 and the State is called as Tamilnadu from 14 January, 1969.
The resolution called upon the central government to move necessary amendments to the bill introduced in the Lok Sabha so as to change the name of the High Court of Madras as the High Court of Tamil Nadu. While moving a resolution in this regard in the Assembly, Jayalalithaa argued this and said Tamil Nadu High Court would be more “appropriate”.
In her letter, a copy of which was released to the media here, she said, “Based on overwhelming public opinion in Tamilnadu, the proposed change of name was debated in the Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly”.
Among the connected matters referred by the High Court of Madras included petitions by several persons seeking relief in connection with the attacks on Dalit colonies.
Giving reasons for seeking the change, the resolution pointed out that the High Courts situated in other states take the respective names of such states, which were formed on linguistic basis in 1956. “Madras high court was set up along with Mumbai and Calcutta by the British, and an Act was passed in 1861 by Queen Victoria”. “I was sitting in the gallery when Anna called Tamil Nadu’s name thrice, MLAs said “vazgha” (hail)”.
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It was named as “High Court of Judicature at Madras”, to mean its location with jurisdiction over the entire Madras Presidency, including regions of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The state government emphasized that calling it as Chennai High Court would be inappropriate.
