List of High Courts in India Complete details are provided in this article. Students who are preparing for UPSC, SSC, Bank and other competitive exams can collect the ultimate information about Indian High Courts. High Court means the highest judicial court of the state. After the Supreme Court of India, the High Court is known as the second highest court in the country.
Currently India has 25 High Court Formed in all the states of the country. When it comes to Indian Judiciary, the subject of High Court in India plays an important role for the candidates appearing in the UPSC Exam 2021. This guide will help you understand essential details about the High Courts of India, such as powers. Appointment of judges, qualifications, tenure, key terms, jurisdiction, and many more.
You can also check the differences and similarities between High Court and Supreme Court from our website Ncertbooks.Guru. Moreover, this article will help you a lot during your preparation for IAS exam or other Common Sense Quiz.
This article includes:
How many High Courts are there in India in 2021? – Overview
In India, the High Court of a state is the highest court of that state and other courts located in cities work under the main High Court of a state. there are 25 High Courts in India, You can find a High Court in every State, as per the Constitution there is a possibility of only one High Court even in two or more States (Article 231).
The oldest High Court of India and also the first Indian High Court Calcutta High Court, formed in 1862. Also, in the same year, the Bombay and Madras High Courts were established. However, these three High Courts of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta are Chartered High Court in India.
The newly established High Courts in India are Telangana High Court and Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the year 2019. Every High Court in India consists of a Chief Justice and several other judges who are selected by the President of India. The first journal in India, the Madras Law Journal, was published in 1891 by the Madras High Court committed to reporting the decisions of a court.
List of all High Courts of India
The list of total number of High Courts in India is tabulated here. Generally, there are 25 High Courts in India and you will get the details of all these High Courts with the year of establishment, an Act of Establishment, jurisdiction, principal seat and bench, Chief Justice. Take a look at the table below:
Sl.No. | high Court | year of establishment | act of establishment | Jurisdiction, principal seat and bench | chief Justice |
1. | Allahabad High Court | 17 March 1866 | Indian High Court Act, 1861 | Jurisdiction: Uttar Pradesh seat: Allahabadbench: Lucknow |
Govind Mathur |
2. | Andhra Pradesh High Court | 1 January 2019 | Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 | Jurisdiction: Andhra Pradesh
seat: Amravati |
Arup Kumar Goswami |
3. | Bombay High Court | 14 August 1862 | Indian High Court Act, 1861 | Jurisdiction: Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Maharashtra
seat: Bombay bench: Aurangabad, Nagpur, Panaji |
Dipankar Dutt |
4. | Calcutta High Court | 1 July 1862 | Indian High Court Act, 1861 | Jurisdiction: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, West Bengal
seat: Calcutta bench: Port Blair, Jalpaiguri |
TB Radhakrishnan |
5. | Chhattisgarh High Court | 1 November 2000 | Madhya Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2000 | Jurisdiction: Chattisgarh
seat: Bilaspur |
PR Ramachandra Menon |
6. | Delhi High Court | 31 October 1966 | Delhi High Court Act, 1966 | Jurisdiction: National Capital Territory of Delhi
seat: New Delhi |
Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel |
7. | Gauhati High Court | 1 March 1948 | Government of India Act, 1935 | Jurisdiction: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland
seat: Guwahati bench: Aizawl, Itanagar, Kohima |
Sudhanshu Dhulia |
8. | Gujarat High Court | 1 May 1960 | Bombay Reorganization Act, 1960 | Jurisdiction: Gujarat
seat: Ahmedabad |
Vikram Nath |
9. | Himachal High Court | 25 January 1971 | Himachal Pradesh State Act, 1970 | Jurisdiction: Himachal Pradesh
seat: Shimla |
l. Narayan Swami |
10. | Jammu and Kashmir High Court | 26 March 1928 | Letters Patent issued by the then Maharaja of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 | Jurisdiction: Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh
seat: Srinagar/Jammu |
Pankaj Mithal |
11. | Jharkhand High Court | 15 November 2000 | Bihar Reorganization Act, 2000 | Jurisdiction: Jharkhand
seat: Ranchi |
Ravi Ranjan |
12. | Karnataka High Court | 1884 | Mysore High Court Act, 1884 | Jurisdiction: Karnataka
seat: Bengaluru bench: Dharwad, Kalaburagi |
Abhay Srinivas Oka |
13. | Kerala High Court | 1 November 1956 | States Reorganization Act, 1956 | Jurisdiction: Kerala, Lakshadweep
seat: Kochi |
S Manikumar |
14. | Madhya Pradesh High Court | 2 January 1936 | Government of India Act, 1935 | Jurisdiction: Madhya Pradesh
seat: Jabalpur bench: Gwalior, Indore |
Mohammad Rafiq |
15. | Madras High Court | 15 August 1862 | Indian High Court Act, 1861 | Jurisdiction: Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
seat: Madras bench: Madurai |
Sanjib Banerjee |
16. | Manipur High Court | 25 March 2013 | North-Eastern Areas (Reorganization) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012 | Jurisdiction: Manipur
seat: Imphal |
Ramalingam Sudhakar |
17. | Meghalaya High Court | 23 March 2013 | North-Eastern Areas (Reorganization) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012 | Jurisdiction: Meghalaya
seat: Shillong |
Bishwanath Somaddar |
18. | Orissa High Court | 3 April 1948 | Orissa High Court Ordinance, 1948 | Jurisdiction: Odisha
seat: ridge |
S. Muralidhar |
19. | Patna High Court | 2 September 1916 | Letters Patent issued by the then British Crown | Jurisdiction: Bihar
seat: Patna |
Sanjay Karol |
20. | Punjab and Haryana High Court | 15 August 1947 | Punjab High Court Ordinance, 1947 | Jurisdiction: Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab
seat: Chandigarh |
Ravi Shankar Jha |
21. | Rajasthan High Court | 21 June 1949 | Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949 | Jurisdiction: Rajasthan
seat: jodhpur bench: Jaipur |
Indrajit Mahanty |
22. | Sikkim High Court | 16 May 1975 | 36th amendment to the Indian Constitution | Jurisdiction: Sikkim
seat: Gangtok |
Jeetendra Kumar Maheshwari |
23. | Telangana High Court | 1 January 2019 | Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014 | Jurisdiction: Telangana
seat: Hyderabad |
Hima Kohli |
24. | Tripura High Court | 26 March 2013 | North-Eastern Areas (Reorganization) and Other Related Acts (Amendment), 2012 | Jurisdiction: Tripura
seat: Agartala |
Aqeel Qureshi |
25. | Uttarakhand High Court | 9 November 2000 | Uttar Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2000 | Jurisdiction: Uttarakhand
seat: nainital |
Raghavendra Singh Chauhan |
How many High Courts in India have jurisdiction over one State/UT?
The following are high courts in India that have jurisdiction over more than one state or union territory:
- Punjab and Haryana High Court – It has jurisdiction over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
- Bombay High Court- has jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman, Diu and Goa.
- Gauhati High Court – It has jurisdiction over Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Kolkata High Court – has jurisdiction over West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Kerala High Court- It has jurisdiction over Kerala and Lakshadweep Islands.
- Madras High Court – has jurisdiction over Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.
Powers and jurisdiction of the High Court of India
At present, the High Court has the following jurisdiction:
- original jurisdiction
- writ jurisdiction
- appellate jurisdiction
- supervisory jurisdiction
- control over subordinate courts
- Court of Records
- power of judicial review
Composition, qualifications and tenure of High Courts in India
Following are the main points regarding the structure, qualifications and tenure of the High Courts in India. Take a look and remember them throughout your life as it was a general awareness topic.
Composition of High Court:
- All high courts consist of a Chief Justice and other judges selected by the President.
- There is no fixed minimum number of judges for the High Courts.
- Furthermore, the appointment of judges to the HC varies from court to court and from state to state in India.
Qualifications:
A valid candidate shall not be eligible for appointment as a Judge of a High Court unless
- He is an Indian citizen with at least 10 years of experience as an advocate of one or two or more High Courts.
- He will have to hold judicial office in the territory of India for 10 years.
Tenure:
Normally, the retirement age of High Court judges was set at 60 years, which was later increased to 62 years in 1963 as per the 15th Amendment of the Constitution.
HC judges appointment details
- The President of India appoints the Chief Justice of the High Court in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Governor of the State.
- Other judges will be appointed by the orders of the President, Governor and Chief Justice of the High Court.
Key terms related to High Courts in India
- tribunal -Tribunal is a term for anyone acting judicially, whether or not it is known as a tribunal by title. For example, a lawyer appearing before a court in which an individual judge sat could refer to that judge as ‘his tribunal’.
- standing bench – A permanent bench consists of one or more High Court judges who meet annually at a specific place which is separate from the permanent seat of the High Court.
- circuit bench – A circuit bench is for areas that are out of reach but there are not a lot of cases to justify a completely permanent bench. Therefore, once or twice a year, some judges travel to these areas and dispose of all the High Court applications of that jurisdiction.
- division bench – In the Division Bench, a case is heard and decided by a minimum of 2 judges.
- full back – Full bench refers to a court that has a larger number of judges than usual.
Salary and other facilities of High Court judges
Since then, the salary paid to a High Court judge has seen a huge increase. So, the salary details of High Court Judges are clearly given in the table below:
salary of high court judge | ||
designation | previous salary | after salary increase |
Chief Justice of High Court | 90,000 | 2,50,000 |
Other judges of the High Court | 80,000 | 2,50,000 |
Apart from the salary to the judges in the High Court, a number of facilities and allowances are provided to a judge in the High Court.
FAQs on Indian High Courts
1. How many High Courts are there in India in 2021?
At present, there are 25 High Courts in India.
2. Which is the last High Court of India?
The last High Court of India or the 25th High Court of India in alphabetical order is the Uttarakhand High Court.
3. Which is the first High Court of India?
The ‘High Court of Judicature at Fort William’, now called ‘Calcutta High Court’The first HC of India came into existence by Letters Patent on 14 May 1862, proclaimed under the Indian High Court Act, 1861 and formally inaugurated on 1 July 1862.
4. What types of courts are there in India?
The Supreme Court, the High Court and the Subordinate Court are the three high courts in India.