New Delhi- The citizens are free to call the country India or Bharat as per their wishes, the Supreme Court had said in 2016 while dismissing a PIL which sought a direction that India be called ‘Bharat’ for all purposes.
“Bharat or India? You want to call it Bharat, go right ahead. Someone wants to call it India, let him call it India,” a bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice U U Lalit, both retired, had observed while trashing the PIL filed by Niranjan Bhatwal from Maharashtra.
It had said, “There is no change in circumstances to consider any change in Article 1 of the Constitution of India.”
Article 1(1) of the Constitution says, “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”
Opposing the PIL then, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said issues regarding the country’s name were deliberated upon extensively by the Constituent Assembly during the drafting of the Constitution and clauses in Article 1 were adopted unanimously.
It had said there was no change in circumstances since the Constituent Assembly debated the issue to warrant a review.
The Supreme Court had also taken strong exception to the petitioner and asked him whether he thinks it has nothing else to do, and reminded him that public interest litigations are meant for the poor.
“The PIL is for poor people. You think we have nothing else to do,” the bench had said on March 11, 2016.
In 2014, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court seeking to rename India as Bharat, but the apex court had refused to entertain and said that a representation be made before the authority concerned.
A bench comprising then Chief Justice H. L. Dattu and Justice A. K. Sikri asked petitioner Niranjan Bhatwal to first approach the authorities concerned with an appropriate representation.
‘Change in name of ‘Republic of India’ will require several amendments in Constitution’
‘India, that is Bharat’ written in Article 1 of the Constitution is only descriptive and the two cannot be used interchangeably, constitutional expert P D T Achary said on Tuesday and underlined that any change in name from the Republic of India will require several amendments.
Asked about what it would take to bring about changes in the current position on the name of the country, former Lok Sabha secretary general Achary said, “They will have to amend the Constitution. Article 1 (will have to be changed) and then there will be resultant changes in all the other articles.” “Wherever India is used will have to go. You can have only one name for the country. There cannot be two names interchangeable, that will create a lot of confusion not only in India but outside also,” he told PTI.
In the UN, India’s name is Republic of India, and tomorrow if it has to be written as Republic of Bharat then the Constitution has to be amended and communication has to be sent to all the relevant countries, saying that “our name has been changed”, he said. “That change has to be brought about by an amendment in the Constitution, otherwise India’s name is India only. India that is Bharat written in Article 1 is only descriptive, it is not that these two are interchangeable. It will be suicidal to use them interchangeably. There is only one name for one country,” Achary said.
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