Supreme Court
While hearing its ongoing batch of petitions challenging demonetisation, the supreme court refused to extend dates for exemption of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes for certain services, while emphasizing that the government is the best judge,[Representational Image]IANS

 After the Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to respond if the country should be called 'Bharat', based on a petition that the term 'India' was coined by the British, Twitterati took the matter in their hands. 

A PIL filed by Niranjan Bhatwal, social activist from Maharashtra claimed that there has been no historical evidence that the subcontinent was called 'India' before the British arrived, and that the Constituent Assembly under Babasaheb Ambedkar had also envisaged 'Bharat'. 

The petition also suggested alternative names to be used officialy, such as 'Bharat, Hindustan, Hind and Bharatbhumi'. 

A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra issued notices to the central and all state governments, as well as union territories, to respond to the petition. 

The ruling BJP party is known to often use the term' Bharat' to refer to India during its meetings and sessions, the latest such case being the recent party conclave in Bengaluru. 

A similar plea was brought before the Supreme Court last year, but the apex court dismissed it and asked the petitioner to first approach the concerned authorities. 

The issue has understandably became a Twitter trend in the country, with netizens sharing their opinions and thoughts on what the country should be called. 

Here are some interesting reactions: 

Twitterati who prefer 'Hindustan'/'Bharat': 

Twitterati who want to stick to 'India':

Those who think the debate is a non-issue: