Read Time: 06 minutes

The Allahabad High Court today refused to entertain a plea seeking insertion of the term 'Jhansi' in the ‘Virangana Lakshmibai Railway Station’. The petitioner society had alleged that due to the recent name change of the old 'Jhansi Railway Station', railway passengers face great difficulty in identifying it.

The matter was heard before the bench of Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Piyush Agrawal. After a short discussion, Court permitted the counsel for the petitioner, a registered society namely Jhansi Media Club, to withdraw the plea. 

Petitioner society's counsel, Advocate Ray Sahab Yadav told Lawbeat that when the matter came up, the bench expressed disagreement with the argument raised by him that now the station is named only after the great queen's name whereas it should mention city's name too, to make it easier for people to recognize it.

Court said, "Rani Lakshmibai gave the highest sacrifice, she stood strong against the British rule, let people recognize the place after her name."

"Recently names of several railway stations have been changed and named after lesser-known leaders. Rani Lakshmibai is known for her bravery all around the world. People know Jhansi because of her," Court added. 

The Government of Uttar Pradesh recently renamed the Jhansi Railway Station as ‘Virangana Lakshmibai Railway Station’. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made the announcement on December 29, 2021, via a tweet. On January 1, 2022, the board on the platform was also edited accordingly. 

As per the instant Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea, "the name of the city of Jhansi was neither named by the Mughals nor by the British, but naturally, it has been pronounced by the people for hundreds of years and till today (no) one had imagined altering the name of Jhansi Railway Station."

The plea further states that "the name of Railway Station has been changed not the name of District Jhansi. ‘Virangana’ is only a name of (Rani) Laxmi Bai, while the Jhansi is a place and since the Railway Station is a junction of the Jhansi, hence it is necessary to present the name with the place."

Alleging that the identity of the Jhansi Railway Junction is with the City of Jhansi and the Virangana Lakshmibai is also identified by the Jhansi as ‘Jhansi Ki Rani’, the petition states that "hence the decision of alteration of the name of Jhansi Railway Junction as ‘Virangana Lakshmibai Railway Station by the respondent no.4 (Secretary, Public Works Department, U.P.) is not just and proper."

Accordingly, directions with regard to quashing the impugned order which had notified the alternation of the name of the railway station and insertion of the term 'Jhansi' in the existing name were sought by the petitioner society.

However, Court opined against these contentions raised and allowed the counsel for the petitioner to withdraw the plea.

Case Title: Jhansi Media Club v. Union of India and others