NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has recently directed the Centre to respond to a petition seeking the exclusive recognition of ‘Bharat’ as the country’s official name by March 12. The plea calls for amending Article 1 of the Indian Constitution, which currently states, “India, that is Bharat.”
The petition alleges that despite a Supreme Court directive in 2020 urging the government to review the matter, no action has been taken. Justice Sachin Dutta, after noting that the Centre and the Ministry of Law and Justice had appeared on advance notice, granted them time to file their response before listing the case for further hearing.
The plea, filed by petitioner Namaha through advocate Ashutosh Thakur, argues 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 urges the court to direct the Centre to amend Article 1, replacing “India, that is Bharat” with “Bharat/Hindustan, a Union of States.” It argues 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 Supreme Court’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.
Despite persistent efforts, the Centre has not made any decision on the matter, forcing the petitioner to escalate the issue to the High Court.
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