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 was named so in the Kerala High Court Act 1958, the legislation through which the court was established.

“Section 2 of the Act defines High Court as the High Court of the State of Kerala. Any change to the name of the court can be introduced only by amending the Act. Currently, there are no proposals before the Kerala High Court regarding the modification of its name,” 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 the court itself, 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.

“There is no law insisting that the name of a High Court should also change in tune with the changes made to the State’s name. This is why a few other High Courts continue to retain their old titles, despite the change made to the name of the respective states. The name change can be brought in only by amending the parent law, the Kerala High Court Act 1958, through which the HCK was established,” pointed out Kaleeswaram Raj, a senior lawyer.

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.