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A Public Interest Litigation plea was recently dismissed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court wherein it was alleged that 'Habibganj' Railway Station in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh was rightly named after the original land donor and its renaming was done with 'mala fide' intention to hurt sentiments of the Muslim community.

The petitioner, Ahmad Sayeed Quresi had prayed for quashing the 'renaming order' dated November 12, 2021, whereby the name of the Railway Station had been altered to 'Rani Kamlapati Railway Station' after Queen Kamalapati of the Gond kingdom.

Dumping Quresi's plea, the division bench of Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sunita Yadav observed that "the court failed to comprehend as to how the name of a particular Railway Station would lead to furtherance of a public cause."

Court said, "The cause of public is served by the quality and quantity of amenities and facilities available at a Railway Station so as to facilitate the ease of travelling by train. This act of facilitation has nothing to do with the name of a particular Railway Station."

Therefore, stressing that Court did not perceive any public cause involved in this petition which also appeared to have been filed to gain cheap publicity, the High Court junked Quresi's plea with cost of rupees 10,000.

Court ordered Quresi to pay the amount in Registry and directed that it shall be utilized for purchasing necessary articles & equipment for dealing with the crisis arising out of the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

In his PIL petition, Quresi had alleged that in the year 1973, one Guru Habeeb Miyan had donated his land to the Railway Department on which land the concerned Railway Station was constructed.

Claiming that this Railway Station's renaming was done with ill-intentions and to humiliate the Muslim community, Quresi's counsel had placed reliance on various provisions of the Constitution to raise the bogey of equal protection of all communities under the Constitution to further his cause against the change of name.

However, Quresi's contentions were dismissed and court held his petition a frivolous and vexatious piece of litigation. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the Rani Kamlapati Railway Station on November 15, 2021, after its revamping, and it is now the first world-class railway station in Madhya Pradesh.

Case Title: Ahmad Sayeed Quresi Vs Union of India And Others