PIL in Allahabad High Court Seeks Official Renaming to 'The High Court of Uttar Pradesh'
In a recent development, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Allahabad High Court. The plea seeks to direct the Central Government and other authorities to officially refer to the High Court for Uttar Pradesh as 'The High Court of Uttar Pradesh' in all official communications, notifications, judgments, orders, and decrees.
Advocate Deepanker Kumar from Lucknow is behind this PIL plea. Besides renaming the court in official documents, the plea also calls for the renaming of the court's rules from Allahabad High Court Rule, 1952 to Uttar Pradesh High Court Rules. Additionally, it urges the court authorities to ensure that the 'proper name' of the High Court is mentioned in all its orders, judgments, notices, and notifications.
The petitioner argues that since all High Courts in the country are established by the Constitution and not by any law or charter issued by the British Government, it was the duty of the government to rename existing High Courts after the respective states they belong to after the Constitution came into effect.
The PIL emphasizes that the confusion surrounding the name of the High Court has created uncertainty among the public, state officials, and even judges of both the Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court. Advocates, in particular, are said to be perplexed, with some referring to it as "The Allahabad High Court" and others as "The High Court of Uttar Pradesh."
Citing observations from the Supreme Court's Special Reference No. 1 of 1964, the petitioner highlights that the Apex Court had referred to the High Court as the High Court of Uttar Pradesh, and the Lucknow Bench of the HC was named as the Lucknow Bench of the High Court of Uttar Pradesh.
The petitioner asserts that both the President and the Constitution Bench are clear about the name of the High Court, as evident from the judgment.
Given these arguments, the PIL plea requests a direction to the Union Government and other relevant authorities to officially designate the High Court for Uttar Pradesh as 'The High Court of Uttar Pradesh' in all official notifications and communications.
