This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Gauhati High Court" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Gauhati High Court
Guwahati High Court Building
Interactive map of Gauhati High Court
26°11′29″N91°45′05″E / 26.1913°N 91.7514°E /26.1913; 91.7514
Established	5 April 1948; 77 years ago (1948-04-05)
Jurisdiction	Assam,Arunachal Pradesh,Nagaland, andMizoram
Location	Principal Seat:Guwahati,Assam Circuit Benches:Kohima,Aizawl &Itanagar
Coordinates	26°11′29″N91°45′05″E / 26.1913°N 91.7514°E /26.1913; 91.7514
Composition method	Presidential withconfirmation ofChief Justice of India andGovernor of respective state.
Authorised by	Constitution of India
Appeals to	Supreme Court of India
Judge term length	mandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions	30 (Permanent 22; Additional 8)
Website	www.ghconline.gov.in
Chief Justice
Currently	Ashutosh Kumar
Since	21 July 2025

The Gauhati High Court was promulgated by the governor general of India on 1 March 1948 after theGovernment of India Act 1935 was passed, establishing the high court with effect from 5 April 1948, for the then-province of Assam. It was originally known as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland, but renamed as Gauhati High Court in 1971 by theNorth-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

It has the largest jurisdiction in terms of states, with its area covering thestates ofAssam,Arunachal Pradesh,Nagaland, andMizoram.

After Indian independence, theAssam 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, theGovernor 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 byH. J. 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 atShillong but shifted toGuwahati on 14 August 1948.

Later, whenNagaland 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 theNorth-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, the High Court of Assam and Nagaland was abolished with effect from 21 January 1972 by section 28(1)(a) of the Act. The Courts of Judicial Commissioners for Manipur and Tripura, which were functioning as high courts, were also abolished by section 30(1) of the Act. In place of these three entities, a common high court for five states, named Gauhati High Court, was established by section 28(1)(b) of the Act. This High Court was given jurisdiction over the then union territories of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram by section 32 of the Act.

AfterMeghalaya,Manipur andTripura got a high court, the Gauhati High Court ceased its jurisdiction in these three states.

^[1]The principal seat of the Gauhati High Court is atGuwahati inAssam. The court has 3 outlying benches. These are:

1. The Kohima bench for Nagaland state (established on 1 December 1972)
2. The Aizawl bench for Mizoram state (established on 5 July 1990)
3. The Itanagar bench for Arunachal Pradesh state (established on 12 August 2000)

Former benches, now full-fledged high courts:

1. The Imphal bench (established on 21 January 1972) (Converted to a high court in March 2013)
2. The Agartala bench (established on 24 January 1972) (Converted to a high court in March 2013)
3. The Shillong bench (established on 4 September 1974) (Converted to a high court in March 2013)

The Kohima bench is located on the eastern slope of the Ministers' Hill in the capital city of Nagaland,Kohima. The building housing the Kohima bench was earlier a hostel, which was renovated for the Kohima bench. The bench was inaugurated on 1 December 1972, by the Honorable Mr. Justice M.C. Pathak.^{[citation needed]}

The permanent judge for the state of Nagaland is Lanusungkum Jamir.^[2]Elevated as Additional Judge on 22 May 2013.

The permanent bench atItanagar was inaugurated on 12 August 2000 by A.S. Anand at Naharlagun, which is located about 13 km. from the capital town, Itanagar. The permanent judge is Pranoy Kumar Musahary.

The Aizawl permanent bench is situated at the capital city of Mizoram,Aizawl. On 5 July 1990, the Aizawl permanent bench of the Gauhati High Court was established and inaugurated by the then-chief justice of India, S.B. Mukherjee.^[3] The permanent judge is M. R. Pathak.^[4] Elevated as additional judge on 22 May 2013 is Michael Zothankhuma.^[4]

The Judges of Gauhati High Court (other than the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court) are appointed by thePresident by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with theChief Justice of India, and on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. TheChief Justice of India is required to consult with two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of the High Court is also required to consult his two senior-most puisne Judges before recommending a name for appointment to the High Court.

Currently, the sanctioned strength of Judges of the Gauhati High Court is 22 permanent Judges and 8 Additional Judges. Following is the list of sitting Judges of the High Court of Delhi^[5]

#	Name of the Judge	Image	Date of Appointment as Judge	Date of elevation to Supreme Court	Date of Retirement	Tenure			Immediately preceding office
						As HC Judge	As Supreme Court Judge	Total tenure (including both SC and HC)
1	Ujjal Bhuyan		17 October 2011	14 July 2023	1 August 2029	11 years, 270 days	6 years, 19 days	17 years, 289 days	5th CJ ofTelangana HC

#	Name of the Judge	Image	Date of Appointment as Judge	Date of elevation to Supreme Court	Date of Retirement	Tenure			Immediately preceding office	Remarks
						As HC Judge	As Supreme Court Judge	Total tenure (including both SC and HC)
1	Parbati Kumar Goswami		12 May 1967	10 September 1973	31 December 1977	6 years, 121 days	4 years, 113 days	10 years, 234 days	9th CJ of Gauhati HC
2	Baharul Islam		20 January 1972	4 December 1980	12 January 1983	8 years, 41 days	2 years, 40 days	10 years, 81 days	Elevated after retirement as HC Judge on29 February 1980	Resigned from office
3	Khagendra Nath Saika		12 February 1979	14 December 1988	28 February 1991	9 years, 18 days	2 years, 77 days	11 years, 95 days	Elevated after retirement as HC Judge on29 February 1988
4	Banwari Lal Hansaria		12 February 1979	14 December 1993	24 December 1996	14 years, 305 days	3 years, 11 days	17 years, 317 days	13th CJ ofOrissa HC
5	Sailendu Nath Phukan		11 October 1985	28 January 1999	31 March 2002	14 years, 109 days	3 years, 63 days	16 years, 172 days	16th CJ ofOrissa HC
6	H. K. Sema		24 May 1989	9 April 2002	1 June 2008	12 years, 320 days	6 years, 54 days	19 years, 9 days	21st CJ ofJammu & Kashmir HC
7	Mukundakam Sharma		10 January 1994	9 April 2008	17 September 2011	14 years, 90 days	3 years, 162 days	17 years, 251 days	24th CJ ofDelhi HC
8	Ranjan Gogoi		28 February 2001	23 April 2012	17 November 2019	11 years, 55 days	7 years, 209 days	18 years, 263 days	30th CJ ofPunjab & Haryana HC	46th Chief Justice of India
9	Amitava Roy		4 February 2002	27 February 2015	1 March 2018	13 years, 23 days	3 years, 3 days	16 years, 26 days	27tht CJ ofOrissa HC
10	Hrishikesh Roy		12 October 2006	23 September 2019	31 January 2025	12 years, 346 days	5 years, 251 days	18 years, 112 days	35th CJ ofKerala HC

• High Courts of India

• Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts
• Judge strength in High Courts increased

• Gauhati High Court - legal directory

• High courts of India
• Guwahati
• Government of Assam
• 1948 establishments in India
• Courts and tribunals established in 1948

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2025
• Use Indian English from October 2013
• All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English
• Articles needing additional references from December 2012
• All articles needing additional references
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Articles using an unknown Template:Engvar option
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021
• Pages using the Kartographer extension