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.

Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court is the High Court of the state of Gujarat. It was established on 1 May 1960 under the Bombay Re-organsisation Act, 1960 after the state split from Bombay State.

The seat of the court is Ahmedabad. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 42.

The Chief Justice
The current Chief Justice is Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sudhanshu Jyoti Mukhopadhyaya, who assumed the charge on 9 December 2009

The Bench
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHANSHU JYOTI MUKHOPADHYAYA, Esquire; The Chief Justice


HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHAGWATI PRASAD
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. M. KAPADIA
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. L. DAVE
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE H. K. RATHOD
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE D. H. WAGHELA
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R. R. TRIPATHI
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE D. A. MEHTA
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K. A. PUJ
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. M. PATEL
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K. S. JHAVERI
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. A. H. KURESH
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. S. DAVE
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S. R. BRAHMBHATT
HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE H. N. DEVANI
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE M. D. SHAH
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE H. B. ANTANI
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE B. N. MEHTA
HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE ABHILASHA KUMARI
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K. M. THAKKER
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S. Z. KHAIRUDDIN
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R. H. SHUKLA
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. UPADHYAYA

Himachal High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court  is the High Court of the state of Himachal Pradesh. It was established in 1971 under the State of H.P. Act, 1970.

The seat of the court is Shimla, the administrative capital of the state. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 9 including the chief justice.

The Chief Justice

Justice Kurian Joseph, the seniormost judge at the Kerala High Court, will become the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court when he takes the oath on February 8, 2010. The news was announced on 2 February 2010.

Jammu and Kashmir High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court  is the High Court of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was established on 28 August 1943 based on the Letters Patent issued by the Maharaja of Kashmir. The seat of the court shifts between its summer capital Srinagar and winter capital Jammu. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 14. The current Chief Justice of the court is Aftab Hussain Saikia. He assumed the charge on 13 April, 2010.

History

The High Court of the Jammu and Kashmir state was established on the basis of the Order No. 1 issued by the Maharaja on 26 March 1928. The Maharaja appointed Lala Kanwar Sein as the first Chief Justice and Rai Bahadur Lala Bodh Raj Sawhney and Khan Sahib Aga Syed Hussain as Puisne Judges. The seats of the High Court were Jammu and Srinagar. On 10 September 1943, the Letters Patent was conferred on the High Court by the Maharaja.

Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court  is one of the newest High Courts in India. It was established in 2000 under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000, after the state of Jharkhand was carved out of the state of Bihar. The court has jurisdiction over Jharkhand state.


The seat of the court is at Ranchi, the administrative capital of the state. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 20.

History

A circuit bench of the Patna High Court was established at Ranchi on 6 March, 1972 under clause 36 of the Letter Patent of the Patna High Court. The Circuit bench became the Permanent Bench of the Patna High Court, by the High Court at Patna (Establishment of Permanent Bench at Ranchi) Act 1976 (Act 57 of 1976) on 8 April, 1976. This Permanent Bench finally became the Jharkhand High Court on reorganiszation of Bihar state on 15 November, 2000.

Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court is the High Court of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located in Bangalore, the capital city of Karnataka. The High Court functions out of a red brick building known as Attara Kacheri. It is in front of Vidhana Soudha, which is the seat of the legislature of Karnataka.

History

The history of the Karnataka High Court can be traced back to the year 1884 when the Chief Court of Mysore was created with three judges and was designated as the highest court of appeal, reference and revision in the State of Mysore, the earlier name of Karnataka.[1] The court had District Courts, Sub-ordinate Judges' Courts and Munsiff Courts to assist it on civil cases and a Court of Sessions, District Magistrate and First, Second and Third Class Magistrates to assist it on criminal cases.[2] In 1881, the office of the Chief Judge was created and the designated person had the utmost authority in the court. In 1930, it was renamed as the High Court of Mysore and the Chief Judge was given the new name of Chief Justice. In 1973, it got its present name of Karnataka High Court.

Premesis

The High Court is located in a building called as Attara Kacheri (meaning Eighteen offices). It is a two-storied building, red in colour and has been built in the neoclassical style. The construction of the building was supervised by Rao Bahadur Arcot Narayanaswamy Mudaliar and completed in the year 1868. It was earlier named as Old Public Offices and got its name of Attara Kacheri when the eighteen departments in the general and revenue secretariat of the Mysore Government were shifted here from their crowded premises in Tipu Sultan's summer palace. There was a proposal to demolish this building in the year 1982.[3] However, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in order to save this old building from getting demolished. This was the first PIL to be filed in the Karnataka High court and the case was heard in the very building that was supposed to be demolished.[4] In August 1984, the judges M. N. Venkatachaliah and Vittal Rao pronounced a judgement that stayed the demolition.

Kerala High Court

High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. The High Court of Kerala is headquartered at Kochi. Drawing its powers from the Constitution of India, the High Court has the power to issue directions, orders and writs including the writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari for ensuring the enforcement of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution to citizens or for other specified purposes. The High Court is empowered with original, appellate and revisional jurisdiction in civil as well as criminal matters, and the power to answer references to it under some statutes. The High Court has the superintendence and visitorial jurisdiction over all courts and tribunals of inferior jurisdiction covered under its territorial jurisdiction.


The Chief Justice of High Court of Kerala is Justice Jasti Chelameswar. [1][2] At present, the sanctioned Judge strength of the High Court of Kerala is 27 Permanent Judges including the Chief Justice and 12 Additional Judges. [3] Depending on the importance and nature of the question to be adjudicated, the judges sit as Single (one judge), Division (two judges), Full (three judges) or such other benches of larger strengths.

The foundation stone for the new multi-storied building now housing the High Court of Kerala was laid on 14 March 1994 by the then Chief Justice of India, Justice M. N. Venkatachaliah. The estimated cost of construction was ten crore Indian rupees.[4] The construction was completed in 2005 at a cost of eighty-five crore[clarification needed] Indian rupees. The completed High Court building was inaugurated by the Chief Justice of India, Justice Y. K. Sabharwal on 11 February 2006. The new High Court building is equipped with modern amenities like videoconferencing, air conditioned courtrooms, intranet, facilities for retrieval of order copies and publishing of the case status via the internet. The building is built on 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land and has a built-up area of 550,000 square feet (51,000 m2) over nine floors. The building has in it a post office, bank, medical clinic, library, canteens and such other most needed utilities and services. The High Court of Kerala has moved to its new building from the date of its inauguration, from the adjacent Ram Mohan Palace, where it had been functioning.

Madha Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court is the High Court of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It was established as the Nagpur High Court on 2 January 1936 under the Government of India Act 1935; Letters Patent. The Court was established in Nagpur, but after the reorganization of states on 1 November 1956, it was moved to Jabalpur. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 42.

Principal seat and benches
The principal seat of the court is Jabalpur. The court is housed in an impressive building constructed by Raja Gokul Das in 1899. The building was designed by Henry Irwin in 1886. The construction work of this building was commenced in 1886 and completed in 1889. The building was constructed in brick-lime with ornamental towers and cornices. The architecture of the building is mixed baroque and oriental. The arches as well as the bastions at the corner are ornamental. There are 14 court rooms in this building.


The Madhya Pradesh High Court has two permanent benches: one at Indore and the other at Gwalior. These two benches were initially established as the temporary benches on 1 November 1956 and later came into existence as the permanent benches on 28 November 1968.

Chief Justice
The current Chief Justice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh is Justice Syed Rafat Alam. He was appointed on 16 December 2009 and sworn-in as the 20th Chief Justice on 20 December 2009

Madras High Court

The Madras High Court one of the landmarks of the metropolis of Chennai (Madras), India, and believed to be the second largest judicial complex in the world[citation needed], is located near the beach, one of the important central business districts of Chennai (Madras).

Madras High Court was established on 26 June 1862 as one of the three High Courts of India (others at Bombay and Calcutta) established at Presidency Towns by Letters Patent granted by Queen Victoria.[1] The jurisdiction of the Madras High Court extends to Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.


Although the name of the city was changed from Madras to Chennai in 1996, the Court as an institution did not follow suit and remained as the Madras High Court.

Along with the Bombay and Calcutta High Courts, it is one of three Courts which were designated as Supreme Courts for their respective Presidencies prior to the Indian High Courts Act, 1861. The Court has a Letters Patent issued by the British Crown and has been a pioneer in Original Side jurisdiction reform in favour of Indian practitioners, as early as in the 1870s. It is one of the three Chartered High Courts in the country, alongside Bombay and Calcutta.

Madras High Court, along with High Courts of Bombay and Calcutta are unique in Indian legal history, since they have been created under Queen's charter in 19th Century, unlike other High Courts of India, which have been created only under the Indian Constitution. Madras High Court is recognized and ratified by the Indian Constitution. However, being a chartered High Court, the decisions of the Privy Council are still binding on the Madras High Court, as long as the ratio involved in the case is not overruled by the Supreme Court of India.

Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court is the High Court of the state of Orissa. It was established on 3 April 1948 under the Orissa High Court Order, 1948.


The seat of the court is Cuttack. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 27.

........At the commencement of the 20th Century Bengal Presidency was a vast province including Assam, Bihar and Orissa. It was really difficult to manage administratively such vast areas inhabited by people speaking in different languages and having different traditions. Administrative exigencies required separation of such areas which originally did not from part of Bengal. In 1905 Lord Curzon, however, with a sinister motive of wedging a division among the Bengal nationalists on communal basis partitioned Bengal into two parts and formed a new province with Assam and Eastern Bengal. Bihar and Orissa were retained with remaining parts of Bengal as province of Bengal. Lord Curzon did not hide his real motive when he pointed out to the Muslims of Eastern Bengal that the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam was conceived as a Muslim majority province. Partition of Bengal stimulated nation-wide protest. It was opposed by all sections of Bengalees. Fierce agitation ultimately compelled the British to re-partition. The two parts of Bengal were again united. Bihar and Orissa were separated from Bengal Presidency to from new province of Bihar. By a notification dated March 22, 1912 new province of Bihar and Orissa was formed. However, still the said new province of Bihar and Orissa was under the jurisdiction of Calcutta High Court.


On February 9, 1916 in exercise of the powers under section 113 of the Government of India Act, 1915, the King of England issued Letters Patent constituting High Court of Patna. Orissa was placed under the jurisdiction of Patna High Court.

On May 18, 1916 Circuit Court of Patna High Court for Orissa held its first sitting at Cuttack Shri Madhu Sudan Das was then the President of the Cuttack Bar Association. It his address wel-coming the Circuit Court he expressed hope that the Circuit Court would become a permanent Bench for Orissa in near future.

On April 1,1936 Orissa was made a separate province but no separate High Court was provided for it. On July 26, 1938 the High Court Bar Association at Cuttack adopted a Resolution demanding a separate High Court for Orissa.

On February 11, 1939 a Resolution was moved in the Legislative Assembly requesting the Government to constitute a committee to examine the question of establishing a separate High Court in Orissa.

By Resolution dated August 19, 1942 the Law Department of the Government of Orissa appointed a committee with Shri Bira Kishore Ray as Chairman, Sri C.M.Acharya, Sri Bichitrananda Das and Dr. Narasingha Rao as members and Shri J.E.Meher as the Secretary.

Report of the Committee was published for general information by Resolution No. 29440-J dated December 27, 1943. The conclusion of the report was :

“ The committee cannot conclude this report without considering two points which are strictly speaking outside their terms of reference. The first concerns of the Orissa States. It has long been hoped in British Orissa that a joint High Court might be set up covering both the province and the states. The Committee realise that there are constitutional difficulties in the way, though they feel that these need not be insuperable, and that this question is beyond the jurisdiction of the Provincial Government. Nevertheless the practical advantages of the joint High Court are so obvious that it must be mentioned. The second point is with regard to the first judges of the High Court . They recommend that the first three judges should be chosen – one from the English Bar, one from the Indian Bar and one from the Indian Civil Service. They would prefer that the Chief Justice should be member of the English Bar.

The Committee has now reached the end of their task. It only remains to re-state the conclusions which they have reached. They are

(1) That the creation of a separate High Court would round off the organization of the Province and lead to more speedy and convenient administration of Justice.

(2) That the cost involved is not beyond the resources of the revenue.

(3) That the work for disposal is sufficient to occupy a Court of the type the Committee has suggested”.

In 1947 some rules of Princely States in Orissa and Chhatisgarh adopted the Eastern States Union Constitution Act, 1949 establishing a High Court with Head Quarter at Rayagarh in Central Province with arrangements to hold Circuit High Courts at Headquarters of some States.

On January 1, 1948 Feudatory States of Orissa excepting Mayurbhanj were merged with the Province of Orissa. (Mayurbhanj was merged on January 1, 1949).

In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 229(1) of the Government of India Act, 1935, the Government of India on April 30, 1948 issued Orissa High Court Order, 1948 declaring that from the 5th day of July, 1948 “ there shall be a Court of the Province of Orissa which shall be a Court of Record:. Subsequently by Orissa High Court (Amendment) Orider, 1948 issue on June 8, 1948, the date of establishment of High Court was changed from 5th day of July to 26th day of July, 1948.

Patna High Court

Patna High Court (Hindi: पटना उच्च न्यायालय) is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 3 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act, 1915. The court is headquartered in Patna, the administrative capital of the state.


In the long years since its inception, it has carved a niche for itself in delivering justice, fearlessly and impartially. It has come a long way establishing itself as the guiding star for other branches of government.

History of Court

Proclamation made by Governor-General of India on 22 March 1912. The foundation-stone of the High Court Building was laid on Monday, 1 December 1913 by His Excellency the late Viceroy and Governor-General of India, Sir Charles Hardinge of Penshurst.The Patna High Court building on its completion was formally opened by the same Viceroy on 3 February 1916. Hon'ble Sir Justice Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier was the first Chief Justice of Patna High Court.

Chronology

1912 - Proclamation made by Governor-General of India on 22 March 1912.


1913 - Foundation-stone of the High Court Building was laid on 1 December 1913.

1916 - Patna High Court building completed on 3 February 1916. The High Court actually commenced work from 1 March 1916.

1948 - Patna High Court exercised jurisdiction over the territories of that province till 26 July 1948, when a separate High Court was constituted for Orissa.

1972 - Patna High Court opened a Circuit Bench at Ranchi.

1976 - Circuit Bench of Patna High Court at Ranchi became Permanent Bench.

2000 - Circuit Bench of Patna High Court at Ranchi became Jharkhand High Court on November 2000, under the Bihar Reorganisation Act of 2000.

Punjab and Haryana High Court

Punjab and Haryana High Court is a common High Court for both the States of Punjab and Haryana and Union territory of Chandigarh. It is situated at Chandigarh, the capital of the States of Punjab and Haryana. The sanctioned strenghth of this High Court is 68 judges consisting of Chief Justice, 36 Permanent Judges and 21 Additional Judges. As on 4th April, 2010, there are 47 Judges

The following is a list of current justices, with the date they are due to retire.

1.Mr. Justice Mukul Mudgal Chief Justice As CJ 4.12.2009 Retirement 3.1.2011
2.Mr. Justice Mehtab Singh Gill 29.10.2010
3.Mr. Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel 6.7.2015
4.Mr. Justice Ashutosh Mohunta 24.2.2015
5.Mr. Justice M. M. Kumar 4.1.2015
6.Mr. Justice Jasbir Singh 31.7.2014
7.Mr. Justice Satish Kumar Mittal 14.4.2016
8.Mr. Justice Hemant Gupta 16.10.2019
9.Mr. Justice Surinder Singh Saron 3.9.2017
10.Mr. Justice Permod Kohli 28.2.2013
11.Mr. Justice Rajive Bhalla 3.3.2016
12.Mr. Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal 29.9.2020
13.Mr. Justice Surya Kant 9.2.2024
14.Mr. Justice Ranjit Singh Randhawa 3.4.2013
15.Mr. Justice Vinod Kumar Sharma 24.5.2013
16.Mr. Justice Tej Pratap Singh Mann 31.12.2018
17.Mr. Justice Mahesh Grover 3.6.2019
18.Mr. Justice Ajai Lamba 20.9.2020
19.Mr. Justice Rajesh Bindal 15.4.2023
20.Mr. Justice Arvind Kumar Goel 27.11.2011
21.Mr. Justice Sarv Daman Anand 11.7.2010
22.Mr. Justice Harjinder Singh Bhalla 20.11.2011
23.Mr. Justice Amar Nath Jindal 24.5.2013
24.Mr. Justice Mohinder Mohan Singh Bedi 8.10.2018
25.Mr. Justice Laxmi Narain Mittal 5.11.2013
26.Mr. Justice Nawab Singh 10.12.2013
27.Mr. Justice Mohinder Pal 29.12.2018
28.Mr. Justice Harbans Lal 14.9.2010
29.Mr. Justice Sham Sunder 27.8.2010
30.Mr. Justice Karam Chand Puri 19.9.2015
31.Mr. Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg 1.9.2014
32.Mr. Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain 30.9.2020
33.Mr. Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia 30.5.2019
34.Mr. Justice Jaswant Singh Phogat 22.2.2023
35.Mrs. Justice Daya Chaudhary 9.1.2021
36.Mrs Justice Sabina 19.4.2023
37.Mr Justice Jora Singh 14.3.2012
38.Mr. Justice Rajan Gupta 13.9.2022
39.Mr. Justice Ajay Tewari 5.4.2022
40.Mr. Justice Jitendra Kumar Chauhan 5.6.2021
41.Mr. Justice Augustine George Masih 11.3.2025
42.Ms. Justice Nirmaljit Kaur 27.1.2021
43.Mr. Justice K. Kannan 5.6.2016
44.Mr. Justice Alok Singh 27.4.2021
45.Mr. Justice Mehinder Singh Sullar 22.3.2015
46.Mr. Justice Ram Chand Gupta 25.2.2014
47.Mr. Justice Gurdev Singh 31.12.2011

Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court is the High Court of the state of Rajasthan. It was established on 21 June 1949 under the Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949.


The seat of the court is at Jodhpur. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 40.

View of the Rajasthan High Court, Sardar museum in Umaid Park and upper right is Jodhpur fort in 1960.The High Court of Rajasthan was founded in the year 1949 at Jodhpur, and was inaugurated by the Rajpramukh, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh on 29 August 1949. The first Chief Justice was Kamala Kant Verma. A bench was formed at Jaipur which was dissolved in the year 1958 and was again formed on 31 January 1977. Currently the sanctioned strength of the judges is 40 and actual strength is 29.

Sikkim High Court

The Sikkim High Court is the High Court of the state of Sikkim. The history of the court can be traced back to 1955, when the High Court of Judicature (Jurisdiction and Powers) Proclamation, 1955 was issued to establish a High Court in Sikkim. In 1975, Sikkim became a part of India, and the court, which was earlier the national court, now became a state court.


The seat of the court is at Gangtok, the administrative capital of the state. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 3.

Sikkim has a past history of its own. Prior to its merger with the Union of India in the year 1975 by the Constitution (Thirty Sixth Amendment) Act, 1975, the erstwhile Sikkim was under a monarchy. The King who was popularly known as “the Chogyal” was the fountainhead of justice. Kings words were the laws. Under the then administrative set up there was no place for an independent judiciary. The judicial procedure being followed then was very simple and free from legal technicalities. The Courts were dispensing substantive justice based on the principle of justice, equity and good conscience. Lawyers were not allowed to appear in Court.


The available records do not throw much light into the remote past. It can, however, be gathered from these records that the administration of justice in Sikkim in the last century was being carried out by the Feudal Landlords (Adda Courts), Jongpons (District Officers). Pipons (Headmen) and Mandals with the Chogyal at the top.

In 1909, Kazis, Thikadars and Lamas were invested with judicial powers by a State Council resolution. They could try civil suits up to the valuation of Rs. 500/-.

Uttarakhand High Court

    The Uttarakhand High Court is the High Court of the state of Uttarakhand. It was established on 9 November 2000 under the U.P. Re-organsisation Act, 2000 after the state split from Uttar Pradesh.

The seat of the court is Nainital. The sanctioned judge strength at the time of creation in 2000 was 7 which was later increased to 9 in 2003.