Resolution passed to rename Madras HC as Tamil Nadu HC

01 August, Chennai

The Tamil Nadu Assembly Monday unanimously passed a resolution to rename the Madras High Court as the Tamil Nadu High Court. Chief minister J.Jayalalitha while moving the resolution said, most of the high courts are named after the respective states only.

She referred to the High Courts Alteration of Names Bill, 2016 introduced by the Centre in the Lok Sabha last month and said the Madras High Court has jurisdiction over the entire state and therefore it is necessary to change the name as the Tamil Nadu High Court.

The Opposition DMK and Congress supported the resolution and was later passed unanimously through voice vote.Chief Minister Jayalalithaa while introducing the resolution recalled the fact that the renaming of Madras as Chennai was made in 1996, but averred that the name refers only to the specific city whereas the High Court is meant for the whole state.

Most of the High Courts established after the formation of new states based on linguistic lines have been named after the states only, she said. The state got the name Tamil Nadu in 1967, and the demand to rename the high court has been lying dormant for long, which has taken renewed vigour in the state after the introduction of the Bill in Lok Sabha by the Centre to change the names of Madras, Bombay and Culcatta High Courts.