The Delhi High Court has directed the Union government to quickly follow through on a Supreme Court order regarding the consideration of amending the Constitution to replace the word “India” with “Bharat” or “Hindustan.” The order was passed on March 12, with Justice Sachin Datta allowing the petitioner to withdraw the case and pursue the matter with the relevant ministries.
The Supreme Court had initially issued an order in 2020, instructing that the petition be treated as a representation and be considered by the appropriate ministries. The petitioner, Namaha, represented by senior advocate Sanjeev Sagar, approached the Delhi High Court after receiving no updates from the authorities about a decision on the representation.
In his plea, the petitioner argued that the name “India” did not reflect the country’s culture and traditions, suggesting that renaming the country to “Bharat” would help citizens shed their “colonial baggage.” The plea called for an amendment to Article 1 of the Constitution, which deals with the name and territory of the Union.
The petition also referred to the 1948 Constituent Assembly debate, which saw strong support for naming the country “Bharat” or “Hindustan.” It emphasized that, with many Indian cities already renamed to reflect the country’s ethos, the time had come to officially recognize “Bharat” as the nation’s name.
