Madras High Court
Madras High Court building
Interactive map of Madras High Court
13°05′12.8″N80°17′16.4″E / 13.086889°N 80.287889°E /13.086889; 80.287889
Established	26 June 1862; 163 years ago (1862-06-26)
Jurisdiction	Tamil Nadu andPuducherry
Location	Chennai (primary bench) Madurai (additional bench)
Coordinates	13°05′12.8″N80°17′16.4″E / 13.086889°N 80.287889°E /13.086889; 80.287889
Motto	Satyameva Jayate
Composition method	Presidential withconfirmation ofChief Justice of India andGovernor of respective state
Authorised by	Constitution of India
Appeals to	Supreme Court of India
Appeals from	Subordinate courts of Tamil Nadu
Judge term length	Mandatory retirement at age 62
Number of positions	75
Language	English,Tamil
Website	hcmadras.tn.gov.in
Chief Justice
Currently	Manindra Mohan Shrivastava
Since	21 July 2025

TheMadras High Court is anIndian high court that hasappellate jurisdiction over the state ofTamil Nadu and theunion territory ofPuducherry. It also exercisesoriginal jurisdiction over the city of Chennai, and for the issue of writs under theConstitution of India. It is located inChennai, with an additional bench atMadurai.

The Madras High Court was one of the three charter high courts established by theletters patent granted by theEnglish crown on 26 June 1862, and replaced the Supreme Court of Madras, which had exercised jurisdiction over the city since 1817. It is one of the oldest high courts established in India. After the Indian independence, the high court was recognised as one of the appellate authorities as laid down by theConstitution of India adopted on 26 January 1950.

From 1862 to 1892, the High Court functioned in a makeshift building. The primary court complex in Chennai, was officially inaugurated on 12 July 1892, and is one of the largest in the world. The Madurai bench was established on 24 July 2004, and functions from a dedicated court complex in Madurai. The court has a sanctioned strength of 75 judges including theChief Justice.

In the early 18th century, a Major's Court was established inMadras, which administered theEnglish Law for theBritish settlements.^[1] From 1817 to 1862, the Supreme Court of Madras, was the primary court ofMadras.^[2] In 1861, theBritish parliament enacted theIndian High Courts Act and theIndian Councils Act, which abolished the existing Supreme Courts and theSadr Diwani Adalat, and gave power to theEnglish crown to establish High Courts in India.^[1] The Madras High Court was one of three charter high courts established by theletters patent granted by the English crown on 26 June 1862, and is one of the oldest high courts established in India.^[3][4][5] The order was further modified with the issuance of a fresh letters patent in 1865.^[1]

After theIndian independence, the high court was recognised as one of the appellate authorities as laid down by theConstitution of India, which was adopted on 26 January 1950.^[3] While the city of Madras was renamed to Chennai in 1996, the court continued to function under the older name. Though theTamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed a resolution appealing to theunion government to rename the court as High Court of Tamil Nadu in 2017, the name has remained the same.^[6] The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court was established on 24 July 2004.^[3] The Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy, funded by theGovernment of Tamil Nadu, was established in April 2001 under the aegis of the Madras High Court, to train judicial officers.^[7]

The Madras High Court hasappellate jurisdiction over the state ofTamil Nadu and theunion territory ofPuducherry. It also exercisesoriginal jurisdiction over the city of Chennai, and for the issue of writs under the Constitution of India. Apart fromcivil andcriminal courts, it has courts for small causes,labour affairs, industrial tribunal, transport appellate tribunal, and other special courts.^[3] The Madurai bench of the high court handles appellate cases related to the fourteen districts–Kanyakumari,Tirunelveli,Thoothukudi,Tenkasi,Madurai,Dindigul,Ramanathapuram,Virudhunagar,Theni,Sivaganga,Pudukottai,Thanjavur,Tiruchirappalli, andKarur districts of Tamil Nadu.^[8][9]

From 1862 to 1892, the High Court functioned in abuilding inPeriamet, which earlier housed the Supreme Court of Madras and the collector office.^[2][10] Construction on the new court complex atGeorge Town began in October 1888.^[11] The building was designed inIndo-Saracenic architecture by J. W. Brassington and later expanded under the guidance ofHenry Irwin.^[11][12] As per the original plan, 11 court halls were planned in the main building at an estimate of₹0.95 million (equivalent to₹460 million or US$5.4 million in 2023). Of these 11 court halls, six were meant for the High Court, four for the small causes court and one for the civil court. An additional building to host the lawyers, which was connected to the main building.^[11]

Located close to theChennai harbour, the court premises already incorporated alighthouse, which was raised to a height of 175 ft (53 m) during the construction of the courthouse.^[10] Most of the material for the construction were sourced locally except the steel and ornamental tiles, and local artisans were used for the work.^[11] When the construction was completed in 1892, the cost had risen to₹12.98 million (equivalent to₹5.0 billion or US$59 million in 2023).^[11] It was officially inaugurated on 12 July 1892, byBeilby Lawley, thenGovernor of Madras, who handed over the key to the Chief JusticeArthur Collins.^[2][10] It is one of the largest court complexes in the world by area.^[13]

During theFirst World War, the high court building was damaged whenSMS Emden, a Germanlight cruiserattacked the port on 22 September 1914.^[10] The old lighthouse was closed in the later 20th century after a newlighthouse was added at the southern end of theMarina beach.^[10] The complex was subsequently expanded, and the civil and other courts were subsequently shifted to other buildings on the campus, and the main building is exclusively used by the high court.^[11][14]

The Madurai bench of the high court consists of a four storied building spread across 22,929 m² (246,810 sq ft), which houses the offices, and a two storied court building, spread across 15,209 m² (163,710 sq ft), which hosts 24 court halls, and the judges' chambers.^[9]

The court is led by aChief Justice and has a sanctioned strength of 75 judges including the chief justice.^[15][16] The current chief justice isManindra Mohan Shrivastava, who was appointed in July 2025.^[17] The judges of the court are led by orderlies who bear aceremonial mace made of silver, a practice from theBritish era, which has been abadnoned in most high courts and the Supreme Court of India.^[18]

TheMadras Law Journal was started in 1891, by a group of lawyers from the Madras Bar, based on an idea developed during a meet atS. Subramania Iyer's house. The journal published the judgements of the Madras High Court, along with notes and reviews of books. It is the oldest law journal in India. It was sold to Wadhwa publications in 2006, which was taken over byLexisNexis later.^[19] TheLaw Weekly, started in 1914, also reports the judgments of the high court.^[19]

#	Judge	Image	Date of appointment		Date of Retirement	Tenure			Notes
			In High Court	In Supreme Court		High Court(s)	Supreme Court	Total[a]
1	M. Patanjali Sastri[β]		15 March 1939	6 December 1947[b]	3 January 1954	8 years, 266 days	6 years, 29 days	14 years, 295 days	2ndChief Justice of India
2	N. Chandrasekhara Aiyar		16 July 1941	23 September 1950[c]	24 January 1953	6 years, 194 days	2 years, 124 days	8 years, 318 days
3	T. L. Venkatarama Iyer		7 January 1951	4 January 1954[d]	24 November 1958	2 years, 322 days	4 years, 325 days	7 years, 282 days
4	P. Govinda Menon[†]		28 July 1947	1 September 1956	16 October 1957	9 years, 35 days	1 year, 46 days	10 years, 81 days
5	Koka Subba Rao[β]		22 March 1948	31 January 1958	11 April 1967	9 years, 315 days	9 years, 71 days	19 years, 21 days	1st Chief Justice ofAndhra Pradesh High Court 9thChief Justice of India
6	N. Rajagopala Ayyangar		1 November 1953	27 July 1960[e]	14 December 1964	6 years, 44 days	4 years, 141 days	10 years, 185 days
7	A. Alagiriswami		11 August 1966	17 October 1972	16 October 1975	6 years, 67 days	3 years, 0 days	9 years, 67 days
8	P. S. Kailasam[§]		20 October 1960	3 January 1977	11 September 1980	16 years, 75 days	3 years, 253 days	19 years, 328 days	17th Chief Justice of Madras High Court
9	Appajee Varadarajan		15 February 1973	10 December 1980	16 August 1985	7 years, 299 days	4 years, 250 days	12 years, 183 days
10	Sivasankar Natarajan		15 February 1973	10 March 1986	28 October 1989	13 years, 23 days	3 years, 233 days	16 years, 256 days
11	Ratnavel Pandian		27 February 1974	14 December 1988	12 March 1994	14 years, 291 days	5 years, 89 days	20 years, 14 days	Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court
12	V. Ramaswami[^]		31 January 1971	6 October 1989	14 February 1994	18 years, 248 days	4 years, 132 days	23 years, 15 days	16th Chief Justice ofPunjab and Haryana High Court
13	Shanmughasundaram Mohan[^]		27 February 1974	7 October 1991	10 February 1995	17 years, 222 days	3 years, 127 days	20 years, 349 days	12th Chief Justice ofKarnataka High Court
14	K. Venkataswamy[^]		24 July 1983	6 March 1995	18 September 1999	11 years, 225 days	4 years, 197 days	16 years, 57 days	26th Chief Justice ofPatna High Court
15	Madhavachari Srinivasan[^][†]		2 June 1986	25 September 1997	25 February 2000	10 years, 292 days	2 years, 154 days	13 years, 269 days	13th Chief Justice ofHimachal Pradesh High Court
16	Doraiswamy Raju[^]		14 January 1990	28 January 2000	1 July 2004	10 years, 14 days	4 years, 156 days	14 years, 170 days	15th Chief Justice ofHimachal Pradesh High Court
17	A. R. Lakshmanan[^]		14 June 1990	20 December 2002	21 March 2007	12 years, 189 days	4 years, 92 days	16 years, 281 days	22nd Chief Justice ofRajasthan High Court
18	P. Sathasivam[β][^]		8 August 1996	21 August 2007	26 April 2014	11 years, 13 days	6 years, 249 days	17 years, 262 days	40thChief Justice of India
19	Ibrahim Kalifulla[^]		2 March 2000	2 April 2012	22 July 2016	12 years, 31 days	4 years, 112 days	16 years, 143 days	29th Chief Justice ofJammu & Kashmir High Court
20	Chokkalingam Nagappan[^]		27 September 2000	19 September 2013	3 October 2016	12 years, 357 days	3 years, 15 days	16 years, 7 days	25th Chief Justice ofOrissa High Court
21	R. Banumathi[^]		3 April 2003	13 August 2014	19 July 2020	11 years, 132 days	5 years, 342 days	17 years, 108 days	9th Chief Justice ofJharkhand High Court
22	V. Ramasubramanian[^]		31 July 2006	23 September 2019	29 June 2023	13 years, 54 days	3 years, 280 days	16 years, 334 days	24th Chief Justice ofHimachal Pradesh High Court
23	M. M. Sundresh		31 March 2009	31 August 2021	Incumbent	12 years, 153 days	4 years, 169 days	16 years, 322 days
24	R. Mahadevan		25 October 2013	18 July 2024	Incumbent	10 years, 267 days	1 year, 214 days	12 years, 114 days	Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court

• ^β Later becameChief Justice of India
• ^§ Served as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court
• ^{^} Served as Chief Justice of other High Court(s) in India
• ^† Died in office

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