HC dismisses PIL against renaming of Allahabad to Prayagraj

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed a public interest litigation challenging the decision of the state government to change the name of Allahabad as Prayagraj.

The PIL filed by Allahabad Heritage Society and others was dismissed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice Yogendra Kumar Srivastava.

"The material which has been placed before us giving the reasons for change of name by the state government cannot be said to be without basis, and the same clearly reflects a policy decision of the state government," the court observed.

"The petitioners have not been able to place on record any material to demonstrate that the decision taken in this regard is wholly unreasonable, arbitrary and is based on irrelevant considerations, or that the same is violative of any constitutional or statutory provision, so as to bring the same within the parameters of the limited scope of judicial review in such matters," it said.

There is also nothing on record to demonstrate as to how the larger public interestwould be affected by a mere change of name, the court observed while dismissing the petition.

Home Ministry officials had said earlier the central government had given its consent for renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj about two months after the state government, headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, took a decision in this regard.