Indian Government – High Courts

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Jurisdiction and Seats of High Courts

Status :

• Each State of India has a High Court; it is the highest judicial organ of the State.
• However, there can be a common High Court like Punjab, Haryana & Union Territory of Chandigarh.
• Presently there are 21 High Courts in India.
• Consists of Chief Justice & other such judges as appointed by the President.
• The Indian Constitution, unlike in the case of the Supreme Court, does not fix any maximum number of judges for a High Court. ( Allahabad High Court has 37 judges while J & K High Court has only 5 ).
• A judge of a High Court can be transferred to another High Court without his consent by the President. In this the Chief Justice of India is also consulted. The opinion provided by him shall have primacy and is binding on the President.

Appointment of Judges :

The appointment of Chief Justice is made after consultation with the Chief Justice of Supreme Court & the Governor of the State by the President. In case of appointment of a judge, the chief justice of the High Court concerned is also consulted in addition to chief Justice of Supreme Court & Governor of the State concerned.

Indian Government High Courts Qualifications :

Must be a citizen of India.

Should have been an advocate of a High Court or of two such Courts in succession for atleast 10 yrs; or should have held judicial office in India for a period of atleast 10yrs.

Term :

A judge of High Court continues his office till 62 yrs of age. Term can be cut short due to resignation or removal by the President.

Indian President Removal :

The Indian President can remove a judge of High Court only if the Parliament passes the resolution by a 2/3 majority of its members present & voting in each house.

The conduct of the judges of the High Court cannot be discussed in Parliament, except on a motion for the removal of a judge.

Jurisdiction Seats High Courts :

Name	Estd. in the year	Territorial Jurisdiction	Seat
Allahabad	1866	Uttar Pradesh	Allahabad (Bench at Lucknow)
Andhra Pradesh	1954	Andhra Pradesh	Hyderabad
Mumbai	1862	Maharashtra, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa, Daman and Diu	Mumbai (Bench at Nagpur, Panaji and Aurangabad)
Kolkata	1862	West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar	Kolkata (Circuit Bench at Port Blair)
Delhi	1966	Delhi	Delhi
Guwahati	1948	Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh	Guwahati (Bench at Kohima and Circuit Benches at Imphal, Agartala & Shillong)
Gujarat	1960	Gujarat	Ahmedabad
Himachal Pradesh	1971	Himachal Pradesh	Shimla
J & K	1957	J & K	Srinagar and Jammu
Karnataka	1884	Karnataka	Bangalore
Kerala	1956	Kerala and Lakshadweep	Ernakulam
Madhya Pradesh	1956	Madhya Pradesh	Jabalpur (Benches at Gwalior and Indore)
Chennai	1862	Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry	Chennai
Orissa	1948	Orissa	Cuttack
Patna	1916	Bihar	Patna
Punjab & Haryana	1966	Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh	Chandigarh
Rajasthan	1950	Rajasthan	Jodhpur (Bench at Jaipur)
Sikkim	1975	Sikkim	Gangtok
Bilaspur	2000	Chhattisgarh	Bilaspur
Nainital	2000	Uttaranchal	Nainital
Ranchi	2000	Jharkhand	Ranchi