Confusing system of naming High courts : Allahabad High Court not renamed after change in name of the city to Prayag

Allahabad High Court joined the list with High Courts of Bombay and Madras which are still to be renamed after change in name of cities where these are situated.

It is significant that except for some High Courts, all other High Courts are named after states of their jurisdiction. An RTI response had revealed that while all the High Courts constituted after independence were named after respective main states of jurisdiction, High Courts constituted by British regime in pre-independence era continue to be named as per British legacy on basis of cities of their existence even after 70 long years of independence.

Union government should end the British legacy by naming all High Courts after names of states rather than on particular cities. Proposed legislation should incorporate feature that names of High Courts may be automatically changed with change in name of states or cities without needing any separate legislation.

MADHU AGRAWAL