CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has refused to issue directions mandating a specific name for a street, holding that the naming or renaming of streets falls within the domain of the government and local authorities.
The case arose from a petition filed by RK Venkatesh, a resident of Chetty Street in Tiruttani town of Tiruvallur district. He had submitted a representation to the state government seeking the removal of the name “Chetty” and the renaming of the street as Thai Thanthai Kovil Street.
While hearing the matter earlier, a single judge had observed that the petitioner’s intention to work towards the eradication of caste-based nomenclature was appreciable. However, the court observed that it could not accede to his plea seeking that the street should be named in the manner he desired and dismissed the petition.
Challenging the order, Venkatesh filed an appeal before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice MM Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan. The Bench observed that the appellant’s suggestion could not be treated as a command or a public obligation, much less a statutory obligation cast on the government.
Holding that the petition was misconceived and had been rightly dismissed by the single judge, the Chief Justice dismissed the appeal.