On Wednesday, the High Court of Bombay dismissed a bunch of petitions challenging the Maharashtra government's decision to rename Aurangabad district as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar & Osmanabad as Dharashiv.

A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya & Justice Arif Doctor said the notification issued by the state government does not warrant any interference.

The bench said, "We have no hesitation to hold that the notification issued by the state government renaming Aurangabad & Osmanabad does not suffer from any illegality or any legal vice".

The petitions are devoid of merits & hence stand dismissed, the high court said.

In 2022, the Maharashtra cabinet headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde approved the name of Aurangabad as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar & Osmanabad as Dharashiv.

On July 16, 2022, a Government Resolution was passed by the two-member cabinet for changing names & then forwarded to the central government.

In Feb 2023, the Union Home Ministry gave a no objection letter for changing the names of the cities & districts & thereafter, a gazette notification was issued by the state government changing the names of Aurangabad & Osmanabad.

Several petitions were then filed by Aurangabad residents challenging the government's decision to rename the place as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Another PIL was filed by 17 residents of Osmanabad against the government's decision to rename it as Dharashiv.

Both the petitions termed the government's decision as "politically motivated".

The Govt of Maharashtra had opposed the pleas, alleging the two places were renamed due to their history & not for any political reasons.

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