New bill likely to be introduced in Parliament to rechristen names of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras High Courts

In a written reply in December 2016 in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for law P P Chaudhary had said the old bill would have to be revised and a new bill would be introduced. “The central government has sought views from the state governments concerned and the respective high courts for finalising a fresh bill. No time frame can be fixed for finalising of the fresh bill and its introduction in Parliament,” he had said.

A fresh bill is unlikely to be brought in the Winter session that begins on December 11, a senior Law ministry functionary said. “No forward movement had been made on the bill,” he said.

The Calcutta High Court was first among the three chartered high courts to be set up in India and was opened formally on July 1, 1862. The ‘Indian High Court Act’ of 1861 vested in the Queen of England to issue letters patent to establish High Courts of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.

Later, the Bombay High Court was inaugurated on August 14, 1862, which has three benches at Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Goa today. It is one of the few institutions in Maharashtra that continues to carry the old name of the city. The state government renamed Bombay as Mumbai in 1995 and all institutions under it altered their names accordingly.

The Madras High Court, which came into being around the same time, has one bench in Madurai.

(With PTI inputs)