Now Reading: Kerala becomes Keralam but High Court likely to keep old name
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Kerala becomes Keralam but High Court likely to keep old name
The Union Cabinet has accepted renaming Kerala to 'Keralam', as it is called in Malayalam, after decades of demand. The President referred the draft Bill to the state legislature under Article 3,…
The Story in Brief
The Union Cabinet has accepted renaming Kerala to 'Keralam', as it is called in Malayalam, after decades of demand. The President referred the draft Bill to the state legislature under Article 3, and the Kerala Assembly unanimously approved it in July 2026. The Bill now awaits parliamentary approval and presidential assent. However, even if passed, the Kerala High Court is unlikely to be renamed, as High Court names fall under the Union List (Entry 78 of the Seventh Schedule), controlled by Parliament, not states. This anomaly persists with Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, and Orissa High Courts retaining old names after their states were renamed.
The Indian Opinion
The Cabinet's approval to rename Kerala as Keralam is welcome, but the predictable oddity of High Courts keeping colonial-era names shows Parliament's neglect. Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta High Courts still bear old city names decades after renaming. Uttarakhand's High Court quietly changed its name without explicit parliamentary amendment, setting a messy precedent. Will Parliament finally pass the languishing 2016 High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, or let this constitutional quirk continue indefinitely?
Source: livelaw.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
