CHENNAI: In her resolution calling for the Madras High Court to be renamed as the Tamil Nadu High Court, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa pointed out that the Madras High Court was set up in 1892 on the basis of a gazette notification issued by Queen Victoria following the enactment of The Indian High Courts Act, 1861. The court had jurisdiction over the erstwhile Madras State which comprised Tamil Nadu and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
“It would be inappropriate to address Madras High Court in the same name even today as its christening was based on a notification issued by the British Queen. Since Madras was renamed as Chennai in 1996, a proposal was sent to the Central government in 1997 to change the name of the High Court of Judicature at Madras as High Court of Judicature at Chennai. Now, the Central government has introduced the High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016 to change the names of High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras,” added the resolution calling for the renaming of the High Court..