NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre to promptly adhere to the Supreme Court’s order to consider a request for amending the Constitution and replacing the term “India” with “Bharat” or “Hindustan.” Justice Sachin Datta also permitted the petitioner to withdraw their plea on the matter.
“After some hearing, senior counsel for the petitioner seeks to withdraw the present petition with leave to pursue the matter with the ministries concerned for disposal of the petitioner’s representation in terms of the order dated June 3, 2020 passed by the Supreme Court...the present petition stands dismissed as withdrawn,” said Court.
The petition had alleged that despite a Supreme Court directive in 2020 urging the government to review the matter, no action has been taken.
The plea argued that successive governments have ignored requests to address the issue.
“The petitioner is left with no option but to approach this Court, as there has been no update from the respondents regarding any decision taken on the representation,” the plea stated.
The petition had urged the court to direct the Centre to amend Article 1 of the Constitution, which deals with the name and territory of the Union and asked to replace “India with Bharat/Hindustan.” It argued that the name ‘India’ is a colonial legacy that does not fully represent the country’s civilisational ethos, whereas ‘Bharat’ is deeply rooted in its cultural and historical identity.
The petitioner highlighted that during the Constituent Assembly debates on November 15, 1948, extensive discussions took place on renaming the country as ‘Bharat’ or ‘Hindustan.’ However, the final version of the Constitution retained both names, leaving the matter unresolved.
“This petition seeks to complete that unfinished task by ensuring Bharat is the sole name of our nation,” the plea stated. Since the SC’s directive in 2020, the petitioner has actively pursued the matter, filing an RTI to track progress. However, the response revealed that his representation had been shuffled between government departments without any concrete resolution.