In the ongoing legal battle concerning the name changes of Aurangabad and Osmanabad, the state government faced strong criticism from the court today. The case, which has been active for the past two months, saw a hearing in the Bombay High Court. The matter was brought before Chief Justice Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor. The petitioners, city political leader Mushtaq Ahmed and social worker Hisham Usmani, challenged the notification issued by Osmanabad district, taluka, and village on September 16. Their plea contends that renaming the cities to Sambhaji Nagar and Dhara Shiva, respectively, was arbitrary and lacked a proper court decision.
During today's hearing, Hisham Usmani's counsel, Advocate SS Qazi, highlighted the government's premature actions in renaming the cities before the court's final verdict. Qazi emphasized that the decision on the name change had not been concluded yet, and any premature actions would result in wastage of public funds and disrespect to the court's jurisdiction.
The court chastised the state government's advocate Saraf for acting without a finalized court decision, stating that such actions amounted to an insult to the court. Chief Justice Upadhyaya announced that the case would resume on October 27, emphasizing the importance of waiting for the court's ruling before any further steps are taken.
Present in the Bombay High Court today were the petitioners, Mushtaq Ahmed and his counsel Yusuf Machala, Muhammad Hisham Usmani and his advocate SS Qazi, as well as representatives from the Osmanabad Renaming Committee, including advocate Satish Teker. The case remains a focal point of discussion, highlighting the balance between public sentiments and legal procedures in matters of city nomenclature.