Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday passed a unanimous resolution that the Madras High Court be renamed as Tamil Nadu High Court and not as High Court of Chennai as proposed by the Centre, with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa knocking on the Modi government's doors with the proposal.
Jayalalithaa moved the resolution in the AIADMK dominated state Assembly which was welcomed by the main Opposition DMK, and others, including Congress.
The resolution was adopted unanimously after members spoke on the appropriateness of renaming Madras High Court as Tamil Nadu High Court.
Within hours of the Assembly adopting the resolution, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating, "based on overwhelming public opinion in Tamil Nadu, the proposed change of name (of the High Court) was debated in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly."
"After a detailed discussion, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution (today), to call upon the Government of India to move necessary amendments to the Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha so as to rename the High Court of Madras as the High Court of Tamil Nadu," she said in the letter.
The Chief Minister recalled that the Centre had introduced 'The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016' in Lok Sabha last month to rename the High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
Jayalalithaa also appended a text of the resolution to Modi and sought "Government of India to take immediate action" on the basis of it.
The English version of the resolution (which was tabled in Tamil in the Assembly) said the House had in 1967 passed a resolution seeking to rename the then
Madras state as Tamil Nadu, which was duly done by way of a Central law in 1968.
Madras City was renamed as Chennai in 1996 by an Act and accordingly, Chennai denotes only the city of Chennai, the resolution read.
"As the High Court, presently known as the High Court of Madras, has a bench functioning at Madurai, it would not be appropriate to name the High Court which has jurisdiction over the whole of Tamil Nadu as the High Court of Chennai; and hence it is befitting that the High Court which is presently called the High Court of Madras be renamed as the High Court of Tamil Nadu," it said.
"This House calls upon the Government of India 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 instead of High Court of Chennai," it said.
