High courts of India

This article is part of a series on
Judiciary of India
Law of India
Administration Ministry of Law and Justice Department of Legal Affairs Legislative Department Department of Justice Law Commission of India
Civil courts Supreme Court of India Chief Justice of India Judges of the supreme court High courts of India Chief justices of high courts Judges of high courts District courts of India Courts of subordinate judges District munsiff courts
Criminal courts Supreme Court of India Chief Justice of India Judges of the supreme court High courts of India Chief justices of high courts Judges of high courts Sessions courts Courts of chief judicial magistrate Courts of judicial magistrate of first class Courts of judicial magistrate of second class
Executive magistrates Divisional commissioners District magistrates Sub-divisional magistrates
Legal profession Bar Council of India Attorney General of India Solicitor General of India Additional solicitors general Advocates general
Legal education Legal education in India Autonomous law schools in India List of law schools in India
Others Alternative dispute resolution Lok Adalat Village courts Tribunals in India National green tribunal of India National company law tribunal Armed forces tribunal of India Constitution of India Basic structure Directive principles Fundamental duties Fundamental rights Judicial review Indian Penal Code Civil Procedure Code Criminal Procedure Code Judicial activism in India National Judicial Appointments Commission Supreme Court Collegium
v t e

The high courts of India are the highest courts of appellate jurisdiction in each state and union territory of India. 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 the constitution, a state law or union law.

The work of most high courts primarily consists of 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 the president of India in consultation with the chief justice of India and the governor 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 the Judicial 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 the Indian 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.

The Madras High Court is the oldest high court in the country, established on 26 June 1862. 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 as circuit 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 by Bangalore-based N.G.O, Daksh, on 21 high courts in collaboration with the Ministry of Law and Justice in March 2015, it was found that average pendency of a case in high courts in India is 3 years.^[2]

The buildings of Bombay High Court (as part of the Victorian and art deco ensemble of Mumbai) and Punjab and Haryana High Court (as part of the architectural work of Le Corbusier) are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The high courts are substantially different from and should not be confused with the state courts of other federations, in that the Constitution of India includes detailed provisions for the uniform organisation and operation of all high courts.^[3] In other federations like the United States, state courts are formed under the constitutions of the separate states and as a result vary greatly from state to state.^[3]

The Calcutta High Court in Kolkata (est. 1862), Bombay High Court in Mumbai (est. 1862), Madras High Court in Chennai (est. 1862), Allahabad High Court in Allahabad (est. 1866), and Bangalore High Court (now Karnataka High Court) in Bengaluru (est. 1884) are the five oldest high courts in India. The Andhra High Court and Telangana High Court are the newest high courts, established on 1 January 2019 according to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

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:

The Madras High Court in Chennai, one of the first four high courts of India

The Bombay High Court in Mumbai, one of the first four high courts of India and a World Heritage Site

The Calcutta High Court in Kolkata, one of the first four high courts of India

The Allahabad High Court in Prayagraj, one of the first four high courts of India

The Karnataka High Court in Bengaluru

A working day view of the Kerala High Court in Kochi

The Telangana High Court in Hyderabad. Built in 1919 it's one of the oldest high courts.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court is part of the Chandigarh Capitol Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

New High Court Building of Andhra at Amaravati

• District Court
• District Munsiff Court
• Courts of Judicial Magistrate of First Class
• Court of Judicial Magistrate of Second Class
• E-courts

• List of current Indian chief justices
• List of sitting judges of the high courts of India
• Pendency of court cases in India

• "Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts". Eastern Book Company. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2005.
• "Judge Strength in High Courts Increased". Press Information Bureau–Govt. of India. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2005.
• "Judiciary". Supreme Court of India. Archived from the original on 29 August 2005. Retrieved 2 September 2005.
• "Constitution of India". Wikisource. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 31 December 2005.
• "Madras High Court". Hcmadras.tn.nic.in. Archived from the original on 9 May 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
• "Soon, High Courts in 3 Northeastern States". The Hindu. 11 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
• "New Chief Justice of Delhi High Court to Assume Charge on Wednesday". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2012.