Thehigh courts of India are the highest courts ofappellate jurisdiction in eachstate andunion territory ofIndia. However, a high court exercises its original civil and criminal jurisdiction only if the subordinate courts are not authorized by law to try such matters for lack of peculiar or territorial jurisdiction. High courts may also enjoy original jurisdiction in certain matters, if so designated, especially[1] by theconstitution, a state law or union law.
The work of most high courts primarily consists of adjudicating on appeals from lower courts and writ petitions in terms of Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution. Writ jurisdiction is also the original jurisdiction of a high court.
Each state is divided into judicial districts presided over by a district judge and a session judge. He is known as the district judge when he presides over a civil case and the session's judge when he presides over a criminal case. He is the highest judicial authority below a high court judge. Below him, there are courts of civil jurisdiction, known by different names in different states. Under Article 141 of the constitution, all courts in India, including high courts – are bound by the judgements and orders of the Supreme Court of India by precedence.
Judges in a high court are appointed by thepresident of India in consultation with thechief justice of India and thegovernor of the state under Article 217, Chapter Five of Part VI of the Constitution, but through subsequent judicial interpretations, the primacy of the appointment process is on the hands of theJudicial Collegium. High courts are headed by a chief justice. The chief justices rank fourteenth (within their respective states) and seventeenth (outside their respective states) on theIndian order of precedence. The number of judges in a court is decided by dividing the average institution of main cases during the last five years by the national average, or the average rate of disposal of main cases per judge per year in that high court, whichever is higher.
TheCalcutta High Court is the oldest high court in the country, brought into existence on 14 May 1862.[2] High courts that handle numerous cases of a particular region have permanent benches established there. Benches are also present in states which come under the jurisdiction of a court outside its territorial limits. Smaller states with few cases may have circuit benches established. Circuit benches (known ascircuit courts in some parts of the world) are temporary courts which hold proceedings for a few selected months in a year. Thus cases built up during this interim period are judged when the circuit court is in session. According to a study conducted byBangalore-based N.G.O, Daksh, on 21 high courts in collaboration with theMinistry of Law and Justice in March 2015, it was found that average pendency of a case in high courts in India is 3 years.[3]
The high courts are substantially different from and should not be confused with thestate courts of other federations, in that the Constitution of India includes detailed provisions for the uniform organisation and operation of all high courts.[4] In other federations like the United States,state courts are formed under theconstitutions of the separate states and as a result vary greatly from state to state.[4]
The following are the 25 high courts in India, sorted by name, year established,act by which it was established, jurisdiction, principal seat (headquarters), permanent benches (subordinate to the principal seat), circuit benches (functional a few days in a month/year), the maximum number of judges sanctioned, and the presiding chief justice of the high court:
^Body league my presw Ho Chi Minh....., Engineering New Zealand (Organisation), issuing.EG.OCLC1015974760.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Lahore High Court was established atLahore on 21 March 1919 and had jurisdiction overundivided Punjab andDelhi. On 11 August 1947 a separatePunjab High Court was created with its seat atSimla under theIndian Independence Act, 1947, which had jurisdiction over Punjab, Delhi and present Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. In 1966 after the reorganisation of the State of Punjab, the High Court was designated as thePunjab and Haryana High Court atChandigarh. The Delhi High Court was established on 31 October 1966 with its seat at Simla which was later shifted to New Delhi in 1971 after the Himachal Pradesh was granted the statehood with its own High Court at Simla.
^Originally known as the High Court of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland, it was renamed as Gauhati High Court in 1971.
^Originally, known as theJammu and Kashmir High Court. But Jammu and Kashmir having been bifurcated into two union territories, since thereorganization of the state, the court was renamed as the High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh in July 2021.
^Originally known asMysore High Court, it was renamed as Karnataka High Court in 1974.
^The High Court ofTravancore-Cochin was inaugurated atKochi on 7 July 1949. The state of Kerala was formed by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. That Act abolished the Travancore-Cochin High Court and created the Kerala High Court. The Act also extended the jurisdiction of the Kerala High Court to Lakshadweep.
^Under the Government of India Act 1935, a High Court was established atNagpur for theCentral Provinces by Letters Patent dated 2 January 1936. After the reorganization of states, this High Court was moved to Jabalpur in 1956.
^Though the State of Orissa was renamed Odisha in March 2011, the Orissa High Court retained its original name. There has been an ongoing discussion on how to legally change the nomenclature of the High Courts to reflect the renaming of states, but so far none has changed.
^Originally known asPunjab High Court, it was renamed as Punjab and Haryana High Court in 1966.
_2.jpg)
.png)