The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard a petition that sought the direction to the center to amend the constitution to change the name of the country to Bharat from India. The supreme court refused to entertain the plea.
The Supreme court declined the petition saying that the country is already called Bharat in the Constitution. However, the court said that the petition can be considered as a representation of the government. The bench was headed by the Chief Justice of India including justices AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy. The bench reportedly said,
“Why have you come here? India is already called Bharat in the Constitution.”
Appearing for the Delhi-based petitioner, lawyer Ashwin Vaish argued that the petition is to amend Article 1 of the Constitution to which the Chief Justice outrightly denied. The Chief Justice reiterated that the country has already been referred to as Bharat in the Constitution. Vaish further argued that the English name of the country, India, fail to represent the culture and tradition of the country. He also argued that the origin of the word is of the Greek word Indica.
Perfect Time for renaming, says petitioner
Lawyer Vaish kept arguing that there are many examples in the history where Bharat Mata Ki Jai was used and asked the apex court to allow the petitioner to make a representation before the central government. The top court, however, said that the current petition can only be considered as a representation by the center.
In the plea, the petitioner claimed that doing away with the name would finally make the country come out of the colonial past and will also make way for a sense of pride of nationality. The petition also claims that this is the perfect time to rename the country especially after the various cities are being renamed in the recent past. The plea said,
“The removal of the English name though appears symbolic will instill a sense of pride in our nationality, especially for the future generations. In fact, the word India being replaced with Bharat would justify the hard-fought freedom achieved by our ancestors.”
Source: Scoopwhoop
