Sixteen years after the name of the city was changed from Bombay to Mumbai, Maharashtra government on Monday did away with remnants of the affiliation with the erstwhile Bombay state by replacing names of 84 Acts bearing the old nomenclature.
The state legislative assembly today passed a bill for replacing the word "Bombay" from Acts and rules in force in the state.
Accordingly, the word "Bombay" in the nomenclature of 84 Acts will be replaced by the word "Maharashtra". Also, references to "Bombay" or "Greater Bombay" appearing in such Acts or in any other state enactment, rules, regulations, bye-laws, schemes, notifications, orders or any other instrument will be replaced with "Mumbai" or "Brihanmumbai".
The context and citations of these Acts will remain unchanged.
These Acts were enacted before the reorganisation of the state on May 1, 1960, when today's states of Gujarat and Maharashtra were a part of the state (province originally) of Bombay.
Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai and MNS legislators Nitin Sardesai pointed out that similar changes were necessary in 85 other Acts. Sardesai also said the government should also approach the Centre for change in nomenclature of institutions like the Bombay Bar Association and the Bombay High Court etc.
Desai also opposed the proposal of replacing all "Bombay Acts" with "Maharashtra Acts" and advocated that the appropriate ones could also be referred to as "Mumbai Acts".
The House also approved a bill to grant powers of sessions court to the Maharashtra state minorities commission.
A bill to permit the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to levy fee or collect a share of unearned income on transfer of lands leased by it was however held back after the opposition raised certain technical objections.
Among the legislations from which the word "Bombay" will disappear include: The Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948, The Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, The Bombay Police Act, 1951, The Bombay Civil Courts Act, 1869, The Bombay Motor Vehicles Act, 1958 and The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959.
