The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea asking for India’s name to be changed to "Bharat". PTI reported that the bench took strong exception to the public interest litigation and asked the petitioner, Niranjan Bhatwal, if he thought the apex court had nothing else to do. It also told the social activist from Maharashtra that PILs are meant for "the poor". The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India TS Thakur and Justice UU Lalit, added, "You want to call it Bharat, go right ahead. Someone wants to call it India, let him call it India."

An earlier bench headed by former Chief Justice HL Dattu had sought responses from the central and state government, as well as Union Territories, on the petition, which also asked the Centre to refrain from using "India" in official papers. The plea had sought a direction to non-government organisations and corporates to use "Bharat" or other names of the country.

The first article of the Indian Constitution states, "India, that is Bharat, shall be a union of states." This is the only provision in the Constitution on what the country should be called for official and unofficial purposes. The country is also known as Hindustan, depending on the context and the language of conversation.