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Latest list of High Courts in India

Updated on 1 Jan 2020

In this post I have provided the latest list of the high courts in India for your exam preparations. Before we come to the list, let us brush up on a few important basics about high courts in India.

High Courts in India

The High Courts are the principal civil courts of original jurisdiction in the state, and can try all offences including those punishable with death. The work of most High Courts consists of Appeals from lowers courts and writ petitions in terms of Article 226 of the Constitution of India

There are 25 High Courts in India at present (including all the States and Union Territories).  Each High Court has jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories.

High Courts are instituted as constitutional courts under Part VI, Chapter V, Article 214 of the Indian Constitution.

Appointment of Judges of High Courts in India

High Court is headed by the Chief Justice of that Court who is appointed by the President with the consultation of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Governor of the State. The other judges are appointed by the will of President, Governor and the Chief Justice of High Court.

Qualifications of the Judges of High Court

  1. He should be a citizen of India.
  2. He should have been
    • A judge for 10 years of Subordinate court under the Judicial Service of the State OR
    • An Advocate for 10 years in a High Courts in India (Article 217).

Tenure of Judges of High Courts in India

The tenure of judges in High Courts was raised to 62 years of age in 1963 in accordance to the 15th amendment of the Constitution. Originally the age of the retirement of the judges of the High Courts was 60 years.

Terms of Office 

  1. A judge may leave his office by resigning addressing the letter of  resignation to the President.
  2. A judge of High Court may be removed by the President if the Parliament passes a motion against him by an absolute majority and 2/3rd majority of the members present and voting, both the Houses sitting separately.
Manorama Yearbook List of High Courts in India

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Let us now take a look at the List of High Courts in India along with their establishment year, jurisdiction , seat , bench and act under which they were established.

CourtYear of EstablishmentEstablishment ActJurisdictionPrincipal seatBenchCurrent Chief Justice
Allahabad High Court1866Indian High Courts Act 1861Uttar PradeshAllahabadLucknowGovind Mathur
Andhra Pradesh High Court2019Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014Andhra PradeshAmaravati-J. K. Maheshwari
Bombay High Court1862Indian High Courts Act 1861Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, MaharashtraMumbaiAurangabad, Nagpur, PanajiPradeep Nandrajog
Calcutta High Court1862Indian High Courts Act 1861Andaman and Nicobar Islands, West BengalKolkataPort Blair, JalpaiguriT. B. Radhakrishnan
Chhattisgarh High Court2000Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000ChhattisgarhBilaspur-P. R. Ramachandra Menon
Delhi High Court1966Delhi High Court Act, 1966National Capital Territory of DelhiNew Delhi-Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel
Gauhati High Court1948Government of India Act, 1935Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, NagalandGuwahatiAizawl, Itanagar, KohimaAjai Lamba
Gujarat High Court1960Bombay Reorgansisation Act, 1960GujaratAhmedabad-Vikram Nath
Himachal Pradesh High Court1971State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970Himachal PradeshShimla-Lingappa Narayana Swamy
Jammu and Kashmir High Court1928Letters Patent issued by then Maharaja of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019Jammu and Kashmir, LadakhSrinagar/Jammu-Gita Mittal
Jharkhand High Court2000Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000JharkhandRanchi-Ravi Ranjan
Karnataka High Court1905Mysore High Court Act, 1884KarnatakaBangaloreDharwad, GulbargaAbhay Shreeniwas Oka
Kerala High Court1956States Reorganisation Act, 1956Kerala, LakshadweepKochi-S. Manikumar
Madhya Pradesh High Court1936Government of India Act, 1935Madhya PradeshJabalpurGwalior, IndoreAjay Kumar Mittal
Madras High Court1905Indian High Courts Act 1861Tamil Nadu, PuducherryChennai, MaduraiTamilnaduAmreshwar Pratap Sahi
Manipur High Court2013North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012ManipurImphal-Ramalingam Sudhakar
Meghalaya High Court2013North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012MeghalayaShillong-Mohammad Rafiq
Orissa High Court1948Orissa High Court Ordinance, 1948OdishaCuttack-Kalpesh Satyendra Jhaveri
Patna High Court1916Letters Patent issued by then British CrownBiharPatna-Sanjay Karol
Punjab and Haryana High Court1947Punjab High Court Ordinance, 1947Chandigarh, Haryana, PunjabChandigarh-Ravi Shankar Jha
Rajasthan High Court1949Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949RajasthanJodhpurJaipurIndrajit Mahanty
Sikkim High Court1975The 36th Amendment to the Indian ConstitutionSikkimGangtok-Arup Kumar Goswami
Telangana High Court2019Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014TelanganaHyderabad-Raghvendra Singh Chauhan
Tripura High Court2013North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012TripuraAgartala-Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi
Uttarakhand High Court2000Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000UttarakhandNainital-Ramesh Ranganathan

Important Terms relating to High Courts in India

Tribunal – A tribunal is a term for any body acting judicially, whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate appearing before a Court on which a single Judge was sitting could describe that judge as ‘their tribunal’.

Permanent Bench – A permanent bench comprises of one or more High Court judges who sit yearlong at a particular location that is different from the permanent seat of the High Court.

Circuit Bench – A Circuit Bench is for territories which are far flung but do not have too many matters to justify a full fledged permanent bench. As a result, once or twice a year, some judges travel to these areas and dispose off all the High Court appeals of that jurisdiction.

Division Bench – In a Division Bench, a case is heard and judged by at least 2 judges.

Full Bench – A Full bench refers to a court of law consisting of a greater-than-normal number of judges.

Few Important & Facts about High Courts in India

  • The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in the country, established on 2 July 1862. The youngest High Court in India is the Andhra Pradesh High Court established on 1 January 2019.
  • The Madras High Court in Chennai, Bombay High Court in Mumbai, Calcutta High Court in Kolkata and Allahabad High Court in Allahabad are the oldest four High Courts in India.
  • The High Court in Allahabad was actually established in Agra. It was moved there in 1875.
  • Three new High Courts were constituted in the northeast — Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura in 2013.
  • On March 31, 2017, women created history by heading all the four major and oldest High Courts of India. Bombay HC is headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur, Calcutta HC by Chief Justice Nishita Nirmal Mhatre, Madras HC by Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Delhi HC by Chief Justice G Rohini.
  • First female Judge of High Court was Anna Chandy.
  • First female Chief Justice of High court is Leila Seth (Himachal Pradesh HC)
  • India’s first e-court was opened at High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad in  2016.

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Comments

  2. Why are the high courts in cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, or Chennai, still called Bombay High Court etc. based on their old names?

    Reply

    • Thank you for raising this important question! What you have to realize here is that these are institutions created by an Act of the Parliament. Hence, their name can only be changed by the Parliament. Back in 2016, a bill has been approved by the cabinet to change the old names and it make them similar to the new cities name. But this is yet to be approved by the Parliament.

      Reply

    • Dear Ram, Going by the sanctioned capacity, Allahabad High court has the highest number of judges which is 160. Just for your information, the Sikkim High Court has the lowest number of judges.

      Reply

  8. Thank you Sir, this table is really helpful. Also, I was thinking, why is Delhi not among the oldest courts in India. Please reply

    Reply

    • You are welcome! Earlier Delhi was under the jurisdiction on the Lahore High Court (established in 1919), along with the undivided Punjab (before independence). After independence, Delhi was under the Punjab High court (established in 1947) which also jurisdiction over current territories of Punjab, present Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. Interestingly, back then, Punjab High Court had its seat at Shimla! Finally after the reorganization of the Indian states, Delhi High Court was created in 1966. The Punjab High Court became “Punjab and Haryana High Court” was seated in Chandigarh. Hope this was helpful.

      Reply

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