Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court or the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is a high court having jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh since 1950. It was one of the first high courts to be established in India. The present Chief Justice is Justice Ferdino Inacio Rebello. He assumed the charge on 26 June 2010.

History


It was originally founded as the High Court of Judicature for the North-Western Provinces at Agra on 17 March 1866 by the Indian High Courts Act of 1861 replacing the Sadr Diwani Adalat. Sir Walter Morgan, Barrister-at-Law was appointed the first Chief Justice of the High Court of North-Western Provinces.

The location was shifted to Allahabad in 1869 and the name was correspondingly changed to the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad from 11 March 1919.

On 2 November 1925, the Oudh Judicial Commissioner's Court was replaced by the Oudh Chief Court at Lucknow by the Oudh Civil Courts Act of 1925 enacted by the United Provinces Legislature with the sanction of the Governor General.

On February 25, 1948, the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed a resolution requesting the Governor to submit to the Governor General the request of the Assembly to the effect that the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad and the Oudh Chief Court be amalgamated. Consequently, the Chief Court of Oudh was amalgamated with the High Court of Allahabad.

When the state of Uttaranchal was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000, this high court ceased to have jurisdiction over the districts falling in Uttaranchal.

The seat and benches


The seat of the court is at Allahabad. It has a permanent bench at Lucknow, the administrative capital of the state.
Its maximum number of sanctioned judges is 160, the highest in India.

Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court  is the High Court of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was set up on 5 July 1954 under the Andhra State Act, 1953.


Its seat is in the administrative capital, Hyderabad and has a sanctioned judge strength of 39

History of the judiciary in Andhra Pradesh


The State of Andhra Pradesh was formed by the merger of the Andhra area of the Madras Presidency—governed by the British and the Telangana area of the former Indian state of Hyderabad ruled over by the Nizam of the Hyderabad.

History of High Court Building


In Hyderabad State

The High Court stands on the south bank of the River Musi. This is one of the finest buildings in the city, built in red and white stones in Saracenic style, by Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan the ruler of the princely state of Hyderabad

The Plan of the High Court was drawn up by Shankar Lal of Jaipur and the local engineer who executed the design was Mehar Ali Fazil. The construction started on 15 April 1915 and was completed on 31 March 1919. On 20 April 1920 the High Court building was inaugurated by Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan.

While digging the foundation for the High Court, ruins of the Qutb Shahi Palaces, namely Hina Mahal and Nadi Mahal were unearthed. The High Court looks beautiful and impressive from the Naya Pul Bridge at sunset.

After its construction, a silver model of the High Court with a silver key was presented to the Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan by the Judiciary during the Silver Jubilee Celebrations in 1936. The facsimile of the buildings was perfectly carved in a thick sheet of silver weighing about 300 kg. The model is now in the Nizam's Museum in Purani Haveli.

The main building of the High Court was constructed in the year 1919 by the then Nizam’s Government accommodating Six Judges besides accommodation for the Office Staff, record rooms and Advocates’ Hall.


After the formation of Andhra Pradesh


When the High Court of Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956 as a consequence of States Reorganisation Act, the Judges strength was increased to 12. The existing accommodation at that time was only inadequate to meet the requirements of the larger High Court and so the additional building was constructed in 1958-59. The entire office rooms, record rooms, chambers of advocates (42 in all) and the rooms for law officers were located in this building. The record rooms, Officer rooms in the main building were modified to provide chambers and Court Hall accommodation for 14 Judges.

Construction of Annexe


By 1970, the institution of cases of the High Court has gone up to 35,000 as against 20,000 in 1958. The Judges strength had also risen from 14 to 21. To provide additional accommodation for Judges, Staff and Advocates and Law Officers, the third building was proposed and the work was completed in 1976. The Law Officers strength was increased from 8 to 18 by 1980 and the institution of cases had gone up to 55,593 cases. In 1979 a plan was drawn for the four storey Annexe building and due to lack of funds that could not be taken up. There are at present 20 Court Halls and 24 Chambers located in the High Court main building and Annexe buildings. The present building for which the foundation stone is being laid by the Hon’ble the Chief Justice will have 8 Court Halls and 8 Chamber for the Judges. Some of the Court Halls located in the Varandahs and in the Office rooms will be restored to their original position. The institution of cases had risen from 20,078 in 1958 to 1982,123 including miscellaneous cases in 1985. Now the pendency of cases in High Court as on 24 July 1987 are 84,855 (i.e., 66,276 main cases + 18,579 miscellaneous cases). The Government of India is contemplating to rise the strength of the Judges of this High Court to 36 and in such case, more funds have to be released for the construction of Annexe buildings. After the completion of this building, the main building and Annexes buildings can locate 24 Court Halls and 26 Chambers.

2009 Major Fire


On 31 August 2009 a major fire accident broke out through the building reportedly causing severe damage to the library housing rare England law reports, Privy Council journals and a lifesize portrait of the Nizam and portraits of judges. However the records of the court are reportedly safe. The structural integrity of the building also may have been compromised.

Bombay High Court

Bombay High Court is located at Mumbai, Maharashtra, which has jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra and Goa and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, with the benches being at Nagpur and Aurangabad in Maharashtra and Panaji, Goa.


In Mumbai, it has Original Jurisdiction in addition to its Appellates. The Bombay High Court has the sanctioned strength of 75 judges

History & Premises


The Bombay High Court was inaugurated on 14 August 1862. Although the name of the city was changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995, the Court as an institution did not follow suit and remained as the Bombay High Court. The work on the present building of the High Court was commenced in April 1871 and completed in November 1878. It was designed by British engineer Col. J.A. Fuller. The first sitting in this building was on 10 January 1879. Architecture: Gothic revival in the Early English style. It is 562 feet (171 m) long and 187 feet (57 m) wide. To the west of the central tower are two octagonal towers. The statues of Justice and Mercy are atop this building.The 125th anniversary of the building is slated to be marked by the release of a book, commissioned by the Bar Association, called "The Bombay High Court: The Story of the Building - 1878–2003" by local historians Rahul Mehrotra and Sharada Dwivedi.

The Chief Justice and the Judges


The court has a Sanctioned strength of 75 judges. The court handles 3.4 lakh cases, both civil and criminal. 32 sitting judges of the court disposed around 2,000 cases each in 2004. The court has a ratio of 1:1.61 million :: judges to people. Recently, 8 new judges were elevated as High Court Judge. The Current Chief Justice is Hon'ble Mr. Justice Mohit S. Shah. His Lordship is the Former Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court and was earlier, the Senior Most Judge at the High Court of Gujarat. The former Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar was elevated to the Supreme Court of India on 16 December 2009. Hon'ble Justice S.B Bhasme who resigned in the year 1979 to practice in the supreme court had a notable tenure amongst the high courts judges and passed revered judgments affecting matters of public importance. Hon'ble Justice S H Kapadia, Hon'ble Justice Sirpurkar have been elevated to the Supreme Court from Bombay High Court.

History


Sir Gilbert Stone,a Judge of the Madras High Court was appointed as first Chief Justice. The foundation stone of the new building (present High Court building) was laid by late Sir Hyde Gowan on 9-1-1937. The building was designed by Mr.H.A.N. Medd, Resident Architect. It was constructed at a cost of Rs.7,37,746/-.The building consisted of two stories with a garden courtyard in the centre. The outside dimensions are 400 ft x 230 ft. The original design provided for a main central dome rising 109 feet above ground land, the remainder of thebuilding being approximately 52 feet in height. The building has been constructed with sandstone. The building has Ashlar stone facing and brick hearting. The flooring in the corridors and offices is of Sikosa and Shahabad flag stones. The building is declared open on 6 January 1940. On the opening ceremony the Viceroy of India described this building as a poem in stone. The High Court has a fairly well planned garden on the eastern as well as western sides.

The High Court of Judicature at Nagpur continued to be housed in this building till the reorganisation of States in 1956. With effect from 1-11-1956, eight Marathi speaking districts of Vidarbha formed part of the greater bi-lingual State of Bombay which came into existence. Remaining fourteen Hindi speaking districts of the former State of Madhya Pradesh became part of the newly constituted State of Madhya Pradesh with the capital at Bhopal. The High Court of Madhya Pradesh was treated as successor of the former High Court at Nagpur

The Calcutta High Court  is the oldest High Court in India. It was established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William on 1 July 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court building is an exact replica of the Stand Haus in Ypres, Belgium. It is recorded that when the original Stand Haus burnt down, a blue print of Granville's Calcutta High Court had to be consulted before rebuilding it.

History


The Calcutta High Court opened with 13 puisne judges. The first Indian judge Sambhunath Pandit assumed the charge on 22 January 1863
The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 63. Despite the name of the city having officially changed from Calcutta to Kolkata in 2001, the old name is retained by the court as it is an institution.

Cheif Justice


The current Chief Justice is Hon'ble Mr. Justice J. N. Patel. His Lordship was the senior most judge at the Bombay High Court. Sir Barnes Peacock was the first Chief Justice of the High Court. He assumed the charge when the court was founded on 1 July 1862. Romesh Chandra Mitter was the first Indian officiating Chief Justice and Phani Bhushan Chakravartti was the first Indian permanent Chief Justice of the court. The longest serving Chief Justice was Sankar Prasad Mitra.

Chhattisgarh High Court

The Chhattisgarh High Court is one of the newest High Courts in India. It was established on 01 November, 2000 after the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 was passed. It has jurisdiction over the state of Chhattisgarh. High Court of Bilaspur is the 19th High Court of India.


Mr. Justice R. S. Garg was the first Acting CJ of the Chhattisgarh High Court.

The court is having its seat at Bilaspur. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of eighteen.

The Chief Justice
Justice Rajeev Gupta, the current Chief Justice was born at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on 10-10-1950. Took B.A and LL.B Degrees from Jiwaji University, Gwalior. Started practice in Madhya Pradesh High Court from November 1973 and continued till 1994. Appointed as Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in September 1994. Assumed charge as Chief Justice of Kerala High Court on 27-04-2005 . Transferred to High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital and assumed charge on 14/01/2006 as Chief Justice. On 2 February, 2008 he took oath of secrecy as the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court at Bilaspur. He retirement is due on 10 October, 2012

Judges of High Court of Chhattisgarh

Hon'ble Shri Justice Rajeev Gupta ( Chief Justice )
Hon'ble Shri Justice I.M. Quddusi
Hon'ble Shri Justice Dhirendra Mishra
Hon'ble Shri Justice Sunil Kumar Sinha
Hon'ble Shri Justice Satish K. Agnihotri
Hon'ble Shri Justice T. P. Sharma
Hon'ble Shri Justice Nawal Kishore Agarwal
Hon'ble Shri Justice Pritinker Diwaker
Hon'ble Shri Justice Rangnath Chandrakar
Hon'ble Shri Justice Rajeshwar Lal Jhanwar
Hon'ble Shri Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra
Hon'ble Shri Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava

Delhi High Court

The High Court of Delhi  is the High Court of Delhi. It was established on 31 October 1966. The High Court of Delhi was established with four Judges. They were Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. K. Kapur.
On 21 March 1919, the High Court of Judicature at Lahore was established with jurisdiction over the provinces of Punjab and Delhi. This jurisdiction lasted till 1947 when India was partitioned. The High Courts (Punjab) Order, 1947 established a new High Court for the territory of "East Punjab" with effect from 15 August 1947. The India (Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws) Order, 1947 provided that any reference in an existing Indian law to the High Court of Judicature at Lahore be replaced by a reference to the High Court of East Punjab.


The High Court of Punjab started functioning from Shimla in a building called "Peterhoff". The High Court shifted to Chandigarh in 1954/1955. In 1966, the high court was established in its present form at Delhi. It had jurisdiction over the state of Himachal Pradesh till 1971.

The Chief Justice
The current Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court is Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dipak Misra. His Lordship was earlier the Chief Justice of Patna High Court. His Parent High Court is the Orissa High Court.

Guwahati High Court

The Gauhati High Court was established on 1 March 1948 after the Government of India Act, 1935 was passed. It was originally known as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland, but renamed as Gauhati High Court in 1971 by the North East Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

It has largest jurisdiction in terms of states, with its area covering the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Mizoram.

After the Indian independence, the Assam Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution on 9 September 1947 that a High Court be established for the Province of Assam. In exercise of power conferred by the Government of India Act 1935, the Governor General of India on 1 March 1948 promulgated the Assam High Court Order, 1948, establishing the High Court of Assam. It was inaugurated on 5 April 1948 by Harilal Kania, the Chief Justice of India. Sir R.F. Lodge was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the Assam High Court on the same day. The Assam High Court initially had its sittings at Shillong but shifted to Guwahati on 14 August 1948.


Later, when Nagaland state was created on 1 December 1963, the Assam High Court was renamed as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland. On re-organization of the northeastern region of India by the North Eastern Area (Re-organization) Act, 1971, a common High Court was established for the five northeastern states: Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura and the two Union Territories: Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. It was again renamed as the Gauhati High Court.