HIGH COURTS

High Court is a constitutional body mentioned in our Constitution under Art. 214. Art. 214 states that there shall be a High Court for each state.

High Court is the highest judicial body of a state. At present we have 25 High Courts in India. The newest is High Court of Andhra Pradesh established on 01/01/2019

1st High Court ………….Calcutta High Court established on 2/7/1862

2nd High Court ………….Bombay High Court

3rd High Court ………….Madras High Court

4th High Court ………….Allahabad High Court

22nd High Court …………Meghalaya High Court

23rd High Court ………….Manipur High Court

24th High Court ………….Tripura High Court

25th High Court ………….Andhra Pradesh High Court established on 1/1/2019

Appointment of Chief Justice and Judges of High Court: Chief Justice and Judges of High Courts are appointed by President (in Consultation with Chief Justice of India and Governor of the concerned state). Collegium of Supreme Court recommends the names for appointment as Chief Justice and Judges of various High Courts. Chief Justice & Judge of a High Court can be transferred to another High Court by President. Oath of office to the Chief Justice is affirmed by the Governor of the concerned state. Oath of office to other Judges of High Court is affirmed by Chief Justice of the state.

Chief Justice and Judges of a High Court can submit their resignation to the President.

Tenure: Tenure of Chief Justice and Judges of a High Court is up to the age of 62 Years. Tenure is fixed i,e removal before completion of their tenure is not possible (except by Removal motion passed by special majority (2/3 majority) of both houses of Parliament separately).

Common High Court: Some High Courts have jurisdiction over more than one state as under

The UT having its own High Court is National Capital Territory of Delhi (Delhi High Court) Some High Courts besides their Principal Bench also have Benches in other cities of the state as.

In some states, High Courts are not located in capital city but at another city as:

• Allahabad High Court is High Court of UP and is located at Prayagraj (Allahabad) not at Capital Lucknow.

• Capital of Uttrakhand is Dehradun, but High Court is located at Nainital.

• Capital of Chhattisgarh is Raipur, but High Court is located at Bilaspur.

• Capital of Madhya Pradesh is Bhopal, but High Court is located at Jabalpur.

• Capital of Rajasthan is Jaipur, but High Court is located at Jodhpur.

• Punjab and Haryana High Court is common High Court for Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh is located at Chandigarh the common capital of Punjab and Haryana.

• Punjab and Haryana High Court is common High Court for Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh is located at Chandigarh the common capital of Punjab and Haryana.

• J & K High Court is common High Court for Union Territories of J & K and Ladakh is located at Sri Nagar (Summer) and Jammu (Winter).

Circuit Benches

Circuit Benches are temporary courts which hold proceedings for a few selected months in a year. Cases built up during this interim period are judged when the circuit court bench is in session.

First woman Chief Justice of a High Court is Ms. Leila Seth.

Delhi High Court

Delhi High Court was established on 31st October, 1966. Prior to this Delhi was under the Jurisdiction of Punjab High Court and before Independence under Lahore High Court. The present sectioned strength of Delhi High Court is 45 permanent judges and 15 additional judges. First Chief Justice of Delhi High Court was Justice K.S. Hegde. Justice Dhirubhai Narenbhai Patel is the Present Chief Justice of Delhi High Court.

Jurisdiction of a High Court

Jurisdiction of a High Court

a) Original

b) Appellate

The Jurisdiction of High Court can be classified under two categories– Original and Appellate.

(1) Original Jurisdiction

a) Any citizen can approach High Court for protection of his fundamental rights (Article 226). High Court can protect fundamental rights by issuing 5 different types of Writs– (Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Certiorari, Prohibition and Quo Warranto).

b) The original Jurisdiction extends to the matters of Admiralty (Related to navy), Probate (will), matrimonial and contempt of court cases. It can punish for its own contempt.

(2) Appellate Jurisdiction

The Appellate Jurisdiction of High Court extends to both Civil and Criminal cases. In Civil cases it jurisdiction extends to cases tried by courts of Munsifs and district Judges. In Criminal cases it extends to cases decided by Addition Session Judges and Session Judges.

Allahabad High Court has strength of (160) Judges while Sikkim High Court the strength is just 3 judges including Chief Justice.

District and Session Judges are appointed by Governor while Tehsil Courts Judges are appointed by High Court. District and Session Judge is the senior most Judicial Officer of the District.

Some Important Cases:

1. Justice V. Rama Swami case 1993. Justice V. Rama Swami was a Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court. Removal motion was introduced in Lok Sabha against him due to corruption charges. Congress leader Kapil Sibal was his lawyer. At the time of voting Congress Party boycott the voting and removal motion against him was rejected. Later he was appointed as a Judge of Supreme Court.

2. Justice Soumitra Sen was a Judge of Calcutta High Court. In 2011 removal motion against him was introduced in Rajya Sabha on charges of molesting his intern. The removal motion was passed by Rajya Sabha. Immediately Soumitra Sen resigned to avoid his removal by Parliament.

3. Justice P.D. Dinakaran was Chief Justice of Sikkim in 2011. There were corruption charges against him and there was demand of his removal by the parliament. In the mean time he resigned to avoid his removal by Parliament.

4. Justice J.B. Pardiwala was a Judge of Gujarat High Court. In 2017 in his Judgement on Hardik Patel case, he wrote his comments as– The two biggest hurdles in the progress of India are– (a) corruption by politicians and (b) continuance of reservation policy. This caused resentment and there was a demand for his removal by the Parliament. Later on Justice J.B. Pardiwala removed his comments from the Judgement to avoid any removal motion to be introduced in Parliament.

5. Justice C.S. Karnan was a Judge of Madras High Court and transferred to Calcutta High Court. In 2017, Supreme Court awarded him 6 months of imprisonment for contempt of Court. He is the first Ex Judge of a High Court awarded punishment in contempt of court case.