The name, High Court of Kerala, to stay despite Kerala becoming Keralam

The name High Court of Kerala (HCK) would stay despite Kerala becoming Keralam.

Keralam’s Secretary had on Saturday (August 29, 2026) issued a roadmap to rename government institutions after the Union government notified the name change. Now, Kerala has to be rechristened as Keralam in millions of official records, documents, seals, publications, covers, letterheads, files and registers.

However, the changes will leave no impact on the High Court of Kerala as it requires a Bill to be passed in Parliament for the purpose.

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The name change of the High Court can be made only through a High Court Name Amendment Act to be passed by Parliament. Though there were proposals for amending the names of the High Courts of Madras and Bombay in 2016, the amendment bills introduced in Parliament did not get passed and subsequently lapsed. The amendment process has to be initiated by Parliament on a recommendation by the State executive and after ascertaining the views of the State Judiciary, said a senior judge of the HC.

Moreover, the judiciary is not part of the State government and has an independent footing as one of the four pillars of democracy. The name changes introduced by the State government need not reflect on the name or character of the High Court. Any such decisions may have to be initiated by Parliament, he pointed out.

The judge also pointed out the instances of High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Orissa where the original names of the courts were retained despite the changes in the names of the respective States.

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Though the name of the HCK would remain, the State will have to be referred to as Keralam in all the litigations in which it comes as a party, said Philip J. Vettikattu, a lawyer.

The HCK was established on November 1, 1956, with its seat at Ernakulam following the formation of the State of Kerala as per the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, by merging the princely States of Travancore-Cochin State and the Malabar District of Madras State. While the State of Travancore had a High Court at Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin had its High Court at Ernakulam and Malabar District was under the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court. With the integration of the States of Travancore and Cochin on July 1, 1949, the High Court of Travancore-Cochin was formed with its seat at Ernakulam.