'Remove maharaj and princess prefixes in legal petitions': Rajasthan High Court to Jaipur royal family

The judge questioned the relevance of royal honorifics. He also said that princely privileges were abolished decades ago.

The Rajasthan High Court has directed descendants of the former Jaipur royal family to remove ‘maharaj’ and ‘princess’ prefixes from their ongoing legal petitions.

According to Times of India, Justice Mahendra Kumar Goyal directed descendants of the former Jaipur royal family to drop the prefixes or see their 24-year-old case dismissed. He also put October 13 as the final deadline.

Goyal said a week’s time is granted to the petitioners to file a correct amended cause title deleting the prefix Maharaj and Princess from the names of the petitioners and respondent. He was hearing petitions filed in 2001 by legal heirs of late Jagat Singh and Prithviraj Singh, descendants of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family. They have been challenging the collection of house tax by municipal authorities.

The judge questioned the relevance of royal honorifics. He also said that princely privileges were abolished decades ago. The court also asked why such titles should continue to appear in legal proceedings.

In 2022, the Jaipur bench of Rajasthan High Court said the use of salutations and titles such as "Raja", "Nawab" and "Rajkumar" in constitutional courts, all other Courts, tribunals, public offices of the State etc. is prohibited according to Articles 14, 18 and 363A of the Constitution of India.

Earlier, Jodhpur principal seat of the high court had also flagged the same concern in multiple petitions.

When India became independent in 1947, its 600 maharajas lost their royal grandeur and position. In 2015, the Maydhat Pradesh assembly decided that there will be no Maharajas, Rajas, Shrimants, Kunwars and other prefix or suffix added to leader's name. The decision was taken in order to bring uniformity to the names. Titles used to address these social and political superiors indicated the speaker's respect for the addressee or his acknowledgment of inferior status.