SC refuses to entertain a PIL asking for 'India' to be officially renamed as 'Bharat'

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a plea seeking to change the official name of the country from "India" to "Bharat".  The PIL filed in the Supreme Court sought for the Constitution of India to be amended to retain only "Bharat" and exclude "India" from the official name of the country under Article 1. 

A bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde today took up the petition for hearing after it was adjourned yesterday due to non availability of the CJI. CJI told the lawyer for the petitioner that "Bharat" was already included as a name for the country under the Constitution of India, clarifying that the Supreme Court "could not do" what the petitioner was asking for. 

Lawyer for the petitioner Advocate Ashwin Vaish went on to argue that the history of the country was riddled with instances where "Bharat Mata ki Jai" was used. Moreover, India was not a Hindi name, rather a name originated from the Greek word "Indica". 

The petition went on to state that the name "India" was a sign of the colonial hangover, and did not authentically reflect the cultural heritage of our country. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, while allowing the petitioner to approach the Government with a representation for his cause.  A similar petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court back in 2016.