Notice to Asom govt on change of state's name

Guwahati, Feb 2: Gauhati High Court today served a notice to the Asom government regarding changing the state's name from 'Assam' to 'Asom'.

The notice was issued by the two-judge bench of P J Agarwala and P D Agarwala, on a PIL filed by Dr Prafulla Mahanta, a former Director of the Ananda Ram Barooah Institute of Language and Culture.

Dr Mahanta had challenged the change of name of the state as sought by the government. He had pointed out that a change to 'Asom' would also need amendment in the country's Constitution as the state was incorporated as 'Assam' in the Constitution.

The government's decision to change the state's name to 'Asom' had initiated a debate in the state, with most of the people opposing a deviation from 'Assam'.

UNI