The Tamil Nadu Assembly has decided to ask the Centre to rename Madras High Court as Tamil Nadu High Court instead of Chennai High Court, as has been planned. The state Assembly passed the resolution unanimously on Monday, reported The Times of India.

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said, "[then] Chief Minister C N Annadurai moved a resolution and it was passed by the assembly to change the name of Madras Presidency to Tamil Nadu. Following this, the state was renamed as Tamil Nadu from January 14, 1969." She said the city's name was changed from Madras to Chennai in 1996, but that hold for the city alone.

Advertisement

"Madras high court was set up by the British, and an Act was passed in 1861 by Queen Victoria. But since then states have been divided and each high court in that state is called by the state's name," she said, adding that the court does not belong to the city alone, but to the entire state. Jayalalithaa has also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to consider the resolution and take steps to change the Bill.

The National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre has recently introduced the High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016 in the Lok Sabha to change the name of the Madras High Court to Chennai High Court.