There’s a lot in a name!

The petitioner, C Ramachandra Menon, an advocate, says it is necessary to remove the anomaly to make the public informed of the correct usage as Cochin. The correct name to be used is ‘Cochin’ instead of ‘Kochi’, unless the building is located in the Kochi Taluk.

The petitioner is seeking a direction to the state government to issue a letter or circular clarifying the fact to the government and all other institutions located in Kanayannur Taluk not to use the word ‘Kochi’, instead of ‘Cochin’ in their building addresses used for communication and identification.

“The Cochin Corporation decided not to change the name as ‘Kochi Corporation’. The Passport Office, the Cochin International Airport, National Informatics Centre and railway stations are using the name Cochin and Ernakulam for the simple reason that it is the correct description. The postal authorities are also using Cochin,” says the petitioner.

“The people are constrained to refer Cochin as Kochi as some government institutions are using the name Kochi in their addresses and the people take the same as correct. Good governance requires that nobody use a name of a taluk in which they are not located in their addresses. The Collectorate, the High Court of Kerala, the Cochin Corporation office, Infopark, the main roads of the city like MG Road, Shanmugham Road, Banerji Road, Hospital Road and Chittoor Road are not within the geographic limits of Kochi Taluk. But certain offices are showing the name Kochi in their boards, letter heads and websites.

So the public believe that the area covered under the Cochin Corporation should show ‘Kochi’ and not ‘Cochin’.”

The case has been adjourned for two weeks by the bench comprising Chief Justice J Chelemeswar and Justice P R Ramachandra Menon to know the government’s view.