High Court of various States in India
Allahabad High Court (Estd: 17 March 1866)
Chief Justice: Justice Arun Bhansali
The High Court of Judicature for North Western provinces began its function from a building in Agra and was later shifted to Allahabad in 1869. Sir Walter Morgan was the first Chief Justice, Shri Shah Mohammad Suleman, the first Indian Chief Justice and Shri Bidhu Bhushan Malik was the first Chief Justice after Independence. The foundation stone of the present building of the High Court was laid in 1911 by Sir John Stanley, the then Chief Justice. The construction of the building started in the year 1914 and was completed in 1916. On 27 November 1916 the court was shifted to the present building. In January 2019, 30 Court Room building with modern facilities was made functional. Presently, there are Court 91 Rooms and 96 Chambers besides the Court and the Chamber of the Hon’ble the Chief Justice. A museum was established on a permanent basis, during the High Court’s Centenary celebrations held in 1966, making it the first High Court to have its own museum. The Museum is having a rich collection of Judgments, deeds, photographs, dress, furniture and the original charter of Her Majesty the Queen Victoria of 17 March 1866 by which the High Court was created and established.
Main Court complex in Allahabad and Judicial bench in Lucknow
Andhra Pradesh High Court (Estd: 1 January 2019)
Chief Justice: Smt. Justice Lisa Gill
The High Court of Andhra Pradesh State was established in 1954 following the formation of the State of Andhra, separated from the Madras Presidency. Initially located in Guntur, the court moved to Hyderabad after the formation of the unified Andhra Pradesh in 1956. Hon’ble Justice Koka Subba Rao was the first Chief Justice. In 2014, following the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad became common for both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. This arrangement began on 02/06/2014 under Section 30(1) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
On 01/01/2019, separate High Courts for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were formed as per Government of India orders dated 26/12/2018. The Andhra Pradesh High Court began operations at Amaravati with 14 Hon’ble Judges. Hon’ble Sri Justice C. Praveen Kumar was appointed the Acting Chief Justice. The Interim Judicial Complex at Amaravati was inaugurated on 03/02/2019 by Hon’ble Sri Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Chief Justice of India, along with Hon’ble Sri Justice N.V. Ramana and other dignitaries from the judiciary and state.
Several esteemed guests attended the inauguration including former Chief Minister Sri N. Chandrababu Naidu, Hon’ble Justice T.B. Radhakrishnan, Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, and other dignitaries of the legal fraternity. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh officially started its judicial and administrative operations at the Interim Judicial Complex, Nelapadu, Amaravati on 18/03/2019.
Bombay High Court (Estd: 14 August 1862)
Chief Justice: Justice Chandrashekhar CJ
The Bombay High Court was inaugurated on 14th August 1862. The High Court had an Original as well as an Appellate Jurisdiction, the former derived from the Supreme Court, and the latter from the Sudder Diwani and Sudder Foujdari Adalats, which were merged with the High Court. With the establishment of the High Court, the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Code of Civil Procedure were enacted.
Benches of the High Court were established at Nagpur and Rajkot to deal with matters arising from Vidharbha and Saurashtra districts, respectively. In 1960, on the formation of the State of Gujarat, the Gujarat High Court was established. In 1981, a Bench of the High Court was notified in Aurangabad and the Permanent Bench was established in 1984 by the Order of the President. In accordance with the High Court at Bombay (Extension of Jurisdiction to Goa, Daman and Diu) Act, 1981, the Panaji (Goa) Bench of the High Court for the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu was inaugurated in 1982. Later, when Goa attained statehood in 1987, the High Court came to have jurisdiction over the two States of Maharashtra and Goa and over the Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu., The High Court has at present a sanctioned strength of 94 Judges.
Chhattisgarh High Court (Estd: 1st, November 2000)
Chief Justice: Justice Ramesh Sinha
The Chhattisgarh High Court is one of the new High Courts in India. It was established on the 1st of November 2000 as a separate High Court for the newly created State of Chhattisgarh under the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 having its jurisdiction over the territories of the state of Chhattisgarh. The High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur is the 19th High Court of India. The High Court was inaugurated by Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.N. Kirpal, Judge Supreme Court of India on the 1st of November 2000 in the Presence of Mr. Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of State for Law and Justice and Company Affairs Hon’ble Mr. Justice Bhawani Singh Chief Justice of High Court of M.P. and Hon’ble Mr. Justice R.S. Garg, first Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur. It’s new building is situated in Bilaspur at Bodri. The court has a sanctioned strength of twenty two judges.
Delhi High Court (Estd: 31 October 1966)
Chief Justice: Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya
The High Court of Delhi was established on 31st October, 1966. Initially, the High Court of Judicature at Lahore, which was established by a Letters Patent dated 21st March, 1919, exercised jurisdiction over the then provinces of the Punjab and Delhi. This position continued till the Indian Independence Act, 1947 when the dominions of India and Pakistan were created.
The High Courts (Punjab) Order, 1947 established a new High Court for the territory of what was then called the East Punjab with effect from 15th 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 East Punjab started functioning from Shimla in a building called “Peterhoff”. This building burnt down in January, 1981. When the Secretariat of the Punjab Government shifted to Chandigarh in 1954-55, the High Court also shifted to Chandigarh. The High Court of Punjab, as it is later came to be called, exercised jurisdiction over Delhi through a Circuit Bench which dealt with the cases pertaining to the Union Territory of Delhi and the Delhi Administration.
In view of the importance of Delhi, its population and other considerations, Parliament thought it necessary to establish a new High Court of Delhi. This was achieved by enacting the Delhi High Court Act, 1966 on 5th September, 1966.
Gauhati High Court (Estd: 1 March 1948)
Chief Justice: Justice Ashutosh Kumar
The Gauhati High Court formerly known as the High Court of Assam was established on 5th April, 1948. It was inaugurated by H.J. Kania, the then Chief Justice of India. Sir R.F. Lodge was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of Assam High court. The Assam High Court initially had its sittings at Shillong but shifted to Gauhati on 14th August, 1948. Later on, the Assam High Court came to be known as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland on the constitution of state of Nagaland; but renamed as Gauhati High Court in 1971 by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971. The Principal Seat of the Gauhati High Court is at Guwahati, Assam. Apart from the Principal Seat, the High Court has 3(three) outlying Benches. These are Kohima Bench for the State of Nagaland (established on 1.12.1972), Aizawl Bench for the State of Mizoram (established on 5.7.1990) and Itanagar Bench for the State of Arunachal Pradesh (established on 12.8.2000). The Gauhati High Court occupied a unique position of being a common High Court of seven States of North East India, till 23.03.2013, the date of functioning of separate High Courts in Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura. At present, the sanctioned Judge strength of the Gauhati High Court is 24 including the Hon’ble Chief Justice and 6 Additional Judges. Every Judge including the Chief Justice is appointed by the President of India.
The Principal Seat of the Gauhati High Court is at Guwahati, Assam. Apart from the Principal Seat, the High Court has three outlying Benches, viz, Kohima Bench for the State of Nagaland, Aizawl Bench for the State of Mizoram and Itanagar Bench for the State of Arunachal Pradesh. The Gauhati High Court occupied the unique position of being a common High Court of seven States of North East India, till 23.03.2013.
Gujarat High Court (Estd: 1 May 1960)
Chief Justice: Justice Sunita Agarwal
Came to be established on 1st May, 1960 as a result of bifurcation of the former State of Bombay into two States of Maharastra and Gujarat. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sunderlal Trikamlal Desai, as the first Chief Justice; and Hon’ble Mr. Justice K. T. Desai, Hon’ble Mr. Justice J. M. Shelat, Hon’ble Mr. Justice N. M. Miabhoy and Hon’ble Mr. Justice V. B. Raju as puisne judges adorned the bench. The High Court started functioning near Akashwani, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad.
The High Court has later shifted to the new building at Sola, Ahmedabad, from 16th January, 1999.
Himachal Pradesh High Court (Estd: 25 January 1971)
Chief Justice: Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia
Precisely, the former Princely States had different systems of Administration and set of laws and in most of the Princely States, the administration was run on the whims of the Rulers or Wazirs and their words were considered to be the law. Himachal Pradesh came to be formed as a result of integration of 26 Shimla and four Punjab hill States into a Centrally Administered Area on April 15,1948. On 1st April, 1954, the parts of Bilaspur were also merged with Himachal Pradesh having its Headquarters at Shimla. The head was the Chief Commissioner. The first Chief Commissioner was Mr. N. C. Mehta and he was assisted by his deputy Mr. E. Penderal Moon, ICS. On September 30, 1948, an advisory council was formed for the advice of the Chief Commissioner for administrative functions.
The Central Government promulgated the Himachal Pradesh (Courts) Order, 1948 on 15th August, 1948. As per Paragraph 3 of this Order, the Court of Judicial Commissioner was established for Himachal Pradesh and such Court was housed at “Harvingtan” (Kelston area, Shimla). It was vested with the powers of a High Court under the Judicial Commissioner’s Court Act, 1950. Besides the Court of Judicial Commissioner, two Courts of District and Sessions Judges and 27 subordinate Courts were also set up. The Court of Judicial commissioner started functioning on August 15, 1948 and in the same year, two Courts of District and Sessions Judges were also established. The Punjab High Court rules and orders with suitable amendments were made applicable to the courts in H.P. On April 29, 1967, two more District and Sessions Judges Courts, one for Shimla and other for Kangra were established.
Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court (Estd: 26 March 1928)
Chief Justice: Justice Arun Palli
The full-fledged High Court of Judicature for the Jammu and Kashmir State was established in the year 1928. Prior to the establishment of High Court of Judicature, the Ruler of the State (Maharaja) was the final Authority in the Administration of justice. In the year 1889, the British Government asked the then Ruler of the State, Maharaja Partap Singh to appoint a Council, and the Judicial member of the Council exercised all the appellate powers both on civil and criminal side.The State having two provinces- Jammu and Kashmir, had chief judges exercising judicial authority but they acted under the superintendence and control of the Law member of the Council. Later the Council was abolished and a Minister designated as Judge of the High Court was appointed by the Ruler to decide judicial cases. In 1927, a new Constitution was sanctioned by the then Ruler of the State and instead of Law Member, a Ministry in the Judicial Department was created. Thereafter, in 1928, by virtue of Order No. 1 dated 26.3.1928, the High Court of Judicature was established and for the first time the High Court was to consist of The Chief Justice and two Judges. On 26.3.1928, the Maharaja appointed Lala Kanwar Sein as the First Chief Justice of the Court and Rai Bahadur Lala Bodh Raj Sawhney and Khan Sahib Aga Syed Hussain as Puisne Judges. The usual places of sitting of the High Court uses to be Jammu and Srinagar.
Jharkhand High Court, Ranchi (Estd: 15 November 2000)
Chief Justice: Justice Mahesh Sharadchandra Sonak
A circuit bench of the Patna High Court was established at Ranchi with effect from 6th March, 1972 under clause 36 of the Letter Patent of that High Court. The bench was established to meet the needs of the Adivasi Population of the Chota Nagpur area in erstwhile State of Bihar. The Circuit bench was made Permanent Bench of Patna High Court, by Act no. 57 of 1976, by High Court at Patna (Establishment of Permanent Bench AT Ranchi) Act 1976 with effect from 8th April 1976.
The Jharkhand High Court came into existence after reorganization of state of Bihar in existing state of Bihar and Jharkhand on 15th November 2000. About Jharkhand Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west Orissa to the south, and West Bengal to the east. It has an area of 28,833 sq mi (74,677 km). The industrial city of Ranchi is its capital while Jamshedpur is the largest city of the state.
