High Court questions state & centre on renaming of Allahabad

Lucknow: Questioning the centre on the renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday asked the centre and Uttar Pradesh governments to file counter-affidavits within a week. The bench told this after hearing a petition challenging the decision to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj.

The PIL was moved by HS Pandey on which a bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan passed the order.

The petitioner argued that the proper procedure was not followed while changing the name. As per Section 6 (2) of the Revenue Manual, objections from the public must be invited before changing the name of a district.

On the other hand, the state counsel submitted that the provision was applicable in the case the revenue area had to be changed. In the present case, only the name was changed hence the provision was not applicable.

According to Economic Times, the Court after hearing both the sides asked the state and the central governments to file counter-affidavits. The next hearing of the case will be on Monday.