'President of Bharat': Here is what the SC said on renaming India in 2020

In 2020, a Delhi-based man had filed a plea before the Supreme Court, where he said that replacing the word 'India' with 'Bharat' or 'Hindustan' will 'instill a sense of pride in our own nationality'

The Centre on Tuesday released G20 dinner invites sent in the name of "President of Bharat" instead of "President of India".

Following the release of the invites, there were speculations that the Union government would likely bring a resolution for changing the country's name to "Bharat" during the special session of Parliament scheduled from September 18-22.

In 2020, a Delhi-based man had filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC), where he said that replacing the word "India" with "Bharat" or "Hindustan" will "instill a sense of pride in our own nationality".

The plea stated: "The removal of the English name, though appears symbolic, will instill a sense of pride in our own nationality, especially for the future generations to come. In fact, the word India being replaced with "Bharat" would justify the hard fought freedom by our ancestors."

The plea also said that even at that time, there was a "strong wave" in favour of naming the country as "Bharat" or "Hindustan", referring to the 1948 Constituent Assembly debate on Article 1 of the then draft Constitution.

"However, now the time is ripe to recognise the country by its original and authentic name, i.e., "Bharat", especially when our cities have been renamed to identify with the Indian ethos," the plea said.

The Supreme Court had asked the Centre to treat the plea, which sought a direction to amend the Constitution.

The Bench, headed by then Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, told the counsel appearing for the petitioner that India is already called "Bharat" in the Constitution itself.

"Why have you come here?" the Bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, asked the petitioner's counsel.

After the submissions, the Bench remarked that the petition should be treated as a representation by the concerned authority.

The plea has sought to amend Article 1 of the Constitution to the effect that the same refers to the country as "Bharat/Hindustan", to the exclusion of India.

Congress slams Centre over President's dinner invite

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted on X (formerly Twitter): "So the news is indeed true. Rashtrapati Bhawan has sent out an invite for a G20 dinner on September 9 in the name of "President of Bharat" instead of the usual "President of India".

He tweeted: "Now, Article 1 in the Constitution can read: 'Bharat, that was India, shall be a Union of States'. But now even this 'Union of States' is under assault."

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked a "flustered" Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) whether it would change the name of Bharat if the Opposition bloc INDIA rechristens itself "Bharat".

Kejriwal said, "There is no official information about it but I have heard rumours. Why is this happening? Some parties have come together to form the INDIA bloc. If INDIA alliance changes its name to Bharat, will they rename Bharat?" This is treason."