HIGH COURT OF INDIA

HIGH COURT OF INDIA 

• 1862 AD: The first three High Courts in India were established in:
  • Calcutta
  • Bombay
  • Madras
• 1866 AD: The Allahabad High Court was founded.
• By 1947, all 11 provinces in the country had established High Courts.

Constitutional Provisions: Articles 214-231

Article 214: High Courts for States

• Each Indian state must have a High Court.
• The 7th Constitutional Amendment allows a single High Court to serve multiple states.
• Currently, there are 25 High Courts in India.
  • Telangana High Court is the 25th.
  • 2013: High Courts were formed in:
    1. Manipur
    2. Tripura
    3. Meghalaya

High Courts Shared Between States:

• Guwahati High Court: Serves Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram.
• Bombay High Court: Serves Maharashtra, Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
• Punjab and Haryana High Court: Serves Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh.
• Calcutta High Court: Serves West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Madras High Court: Serves Tamil Nadu, Puducherry.
• Kerala High Court: Serves Kerala, Lakshadweep.
• Jammu and Kashmir High Court: Serves Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh.

Appointment and Qualifications of High Court Judges

• Appointment: High Court judges are appointed by the President of India after consulting:
  • The Chief Justice of India (CJI)
  • Two senior-most Supreme Court judges
  • The Governor and Chief Justice of the respective High Court.
• Qualifications:
  • Must be an Indian citizen.
  • Should have served as a lawyer in a High Court for 10 years or as a judge in subordinate courts for 10 years.
  • Maximum age: 62 years.

Oath and Tenure

• Oath: Administered by the Governor of the state.
• Tenure: Judges serve until they reach 62 years.

Removal of Judges

• High Court judges can be removed by impeachment, initiated by Parliament, for proven misconduct or incapacity.

Jurisdiction of High Courts

Original Jurisdiction (Article 225)

• High Courts have authority over matters related to:
  • Marriage, divorce, succession, wills, and company law.
  • Cases involving the violation of fundamental rights.
  • Election disputes involving MPs and state legislators.
  • Revenue and tax collection issues.
  • Cases referred by subordinate courts.

Appellate Jurisdiction

• Appeals can be made to High Courts for decisions made by District and Sessions Courts.
• Appeals can also be made to the Division Bench of the High Court against the Single Bench decisions.

1. Civil Cases:
   • First appeal: Involves both facts and law.
   • Second appeal: Involves only questions of law.
2. Criminal Cases:
   • Appeals are allowed in cases involving punishments of 7 years or more.
   • Death penalty cases must receive High Court approval.

Writ Jurisdiction (Article 226)

• High Courts can issue the following five writs:
  1. Habeas Corpus
  2. Mandamus
  3. Prohibition
  4. Certiorari
  5. Quo Warranto

Court of Record and Contempt of Court (Article 215)

• High Courts’ decisions are binding precedents for subordinate courts.
• Contempt of court can be punished with 6 months imprisonment or a fine up to Rs. 2,000.

Judicial Review

• The High Court has the power to review laws passed by Parliament and state legislatures as well as orders from the Central and State Governments.
• The High Court’s decisions are binding only within the state.

Articles Related to High Courts

• Article 214: Establishes High Courts for states.
• Article 215: High Courts are courts of record.
• Article 217: Relates to the appointment and conditions of High Court judges.
• Article 226: Grants the power to issue writs.
• Article 231: Allows the establishment of a common High Court for two or more states.

Rajasthan High Court

• Established: August 29, 1949, under Rajpramukh Maharaja Mansingh.
• First Chief Justice: K.K. Verma
• Current Chief Justice: Indrajit Mahanti
• Number of Judges: Initially 11, increased to 50 in 2015.
• Jaipur Bench: Re-established on January 31, 1977, under the Rajasthan High Court Order 1976.

Districts under Jodhpur Bench (18):

• Barmer, Banswara, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Churu, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Sirohi, Ganganagar, Udaipur.

Districts under Jaipur Bench (15):

• Ajmer, Alwar, Baran, Bharatpur, Bundi, Dausa, Dholpur, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu, Karauli, Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Sikar, Tonk.

Rajasthan State Judicial Academy (Established: November 16, 2001)

• Patron: Justice Indrajit Mahanti
• Chairman: Justice Sandeep Mehta

Notable Facts and Figures

• Kailash Nath Wanchoo: Served the longest tenure as Chief Justice of Rajasthan (7 years).
• J.S. Verma: Former Chief Justice of Rajasthan and Chief Justice of India; headed the committee formed after the Nirbhaya Case (2012).
• Amitabh Roy: As a judge, made the National Anthem mandatory in all cinema halls.

Chief Justices of Rajasthan High Court

1. K.K. Verma (1949-1950)
2. Kailash Nath Wanchoo (1951-1958)
3. Sarju Prasad (1959-1961)
4. J.S. Ranawat (1961-1963)
5. D.S. Dave (1963-1968)
6. D.M. Bhandari (1968-1969)
7. J. Narayan (1969-1973)
8. B.P. Berry (1973-1975)
9. P.N. Singhal (1975-1975)
10. V.P. Tyagi (1975-1977)
11. C. Honaiah (1978-1978)
12. C.M. Lodha (1979-1980)
13. K.D. Sharma (1981-1983)
14. P.K. Banerjee (1983-1985)
15. D.P. Gupta (1986-1986)
16. J.M. Verma (1986-1989)
17. K.C. Agarwal (1990-1994)
18. G.C. Mittal (1994-1995)
19. A.P. Rawani (1995-1996)
20. M.G. Mukherjee (1996-1997)
21. Shivraj V. Patil (1999-2000)
22. A.R. Lakshmanan (2000-2001)
23. Arun Kumar (2001-2002)
24. Anil Dev Singh (2002-2004)
25. S.N. Jha (2005-2007)
26. J.N. Panchal (2007-2007)
27. Narayan Rao (2008-2009)
28. Deepak Verma (2009-2009)
29. Jagdish Bhalla (2009-2010)
30. Arun Mishra (2010-2012)
31. Amitabh Roy (2013-2014)
32. Sunil Ambwani (2015-2015)
33. Satish Kumar Mittal (2016-2016)
34. Navin Sinha (2016-2017)
35. Pradeep Nandrajog (2017-2019)
36. Shripati Ravindra Bhatt (2019-2019)
37. Indrajit Mahanti (2019-present)