High Courts in India List along with complete details are provided in this article. Students who are preparing for UPSC, SSC, Bank, and other competitive exams can collect ultimate information about Indian High Courts. High court means the highest judicial court in the state. After the Supreme Court of India, the high court is known as the second-highest court inf the country.
At present, India holds the 25 high courts formed in all states of the country. When it comes to the Indian Judiciary, the topic of the High Court in India plays a vital role for the candidates appearing for the UPSC Exam 2021. This guide will help you understand the essential details regarding the high courts of India such as powers, the appointment of judges, qualifications, tenure, major terms, jurisdiction, and many others.
You can also check the Difference Between High Court and Supreme Court & Their Similarities from our website Ncertbooks.Guru. Moreover, this article will help you a lot during the preparation of the IAS Exam or other General Knowledge Quizzes.
This Article Contains:
- How many High Courts in India 2021? – Overview
- List of All High Courts of India
- How many High Courts in India have jurisdiction over more than one State/s or Union Territory/s?
- Powers and Jurisdictions of Indian High Court
- Composition, Qualifications, and Tenure of High Courts in India
- HC Judges Appointment Details
- Major Terms related to High Courts in India
- High Court Judges Salary and Other Perks
- FAQs on High Courts of India
How many High Courts in India 2021? – Overview
In India, the High court of a state is the highest court of the state and other courts located in the cities work under the main high court of a state. There are 25 High courts in India. You can find one high court in every state also there is a chance for only one high court of two or more states as well (Article 231), as per the constitution.
The oldest high court in India and also the first Indian high court is the Calcutta High Court, formed in 1862. Also, in the same year, the Bombay and Madras High Courts were established. However, these three Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta High Courts are the Chartered High Courts in India.
The newly established high courts in India are Telangana High court and Andhra Pradesh High court, in the yeat 2019. In each and every High Court of India, there is chief justice and several other judges whose selection is done by the president of India. The first journal in India, the Madras Law Journal was published by the Madras High Court committed to reporting judgements of a court in 1891.
List of All High Courts of India
The list of the Total Number of High Courts in India is tabulated here. Normally, there are 25 high courts in India and you will find the details of all these high courts with the year of establishment, an act of establishment, Jurisdiction, Principal seat, and Bench (s), Chief Justice. Take a look at the below table:
| High Court | Details |
|---|---|
| Allahabad High Court | Year of Establishment: 17 March 1866, Act of Establishment: Indian High Courts Act, 1861, Jurisdiction: Uttar Pradesh, Principal seat: Allahabad, Bench: Lucknow, Chief Justice: Govind Mathur |
| Andhra Pradesh High Court | Year of Establishment: 1 January 2019, Act of Establishment: Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Jurisdiction: Andhra Pradesh, Principal seat: Amravati, Chief Justice: Arup Kumar Goswami |
| Bombay High Court | Year of Establishment: 14 August 1862, Act of Establishment: Indian High Courts Act, 1861, Jurisdiction: Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Maharashtra, Principal seat: Bombay, Bench: Aurangabad, Nagpur, Panaji, Chief Justice: Dipankar Datta |
| Calcutta High Court | Year of Establishment: 1 July 1862, Act of Establishment: Indian High Courts Act, 1861, Jurisdiction: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, West Bengal, Principal seat: Calcutta, Bench: Port Blair, Jalpaiguri, Chief Justice: T. B. Radhakrishnan |
| Chhattisgarh High Court | Year of Establishment: 1 November 2000, Act of Establishment: Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, Jurisdiction: Chhattisgarh, Principal seat: Bilaspur, Chief Justice: P. R. Ramachandra Menon |
| Delhi High Court | Year of Establishment: 31 October 1966, Act of Establishment: Delhi High Court Act, 1966, Jurisdiction: NCT of Delhi, Principal seat: New Delhi, Chief Justice: Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel |
| Gauhati High Court | Year of Establishment: 1 March 1948, Act of Establishment: Government of India Act, 1935, Jurisdiction: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, Principal seat: Guwahati, Bench: Aizawl, Itanagar, Kohima, Chief Justice: Sudhanshu Dhulia |
| Gujarat High Court | Year of Establishment: 1 May 1960, Act of Establishment: Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960, Jurisdiction: Gujarat, Principal seat: Ahmedabad, Chief Justice: Vikram Nath |
| Himachal High Court | Year of Establishment: 25 January 1971, Act of Establishment: State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970, Jurisdiction: Himachal Pradesh, Principal seat: Shimla, Chief Justice: L. Narayana Swamy |
| Jammu & Kashmir High Court | Year of Establishment: 26 March 1928, Act of Establishment: Letters Patent issued by then Maharaja of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, Jurisdiction: Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Principal seat: Srinagar/Jammu, Chief Justice: Pankaj Mithal |
| Jharkhand High Court | Year of Establishment: 15 November 2000, Act of Establishment: Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000, Jurisdiction: Jharkhand, Principal seat: Ranchi, Chief Justice: Ravi Ranjan |
| Karnataka High Court | Year of Establishment: 1884, Act of Establishment: Mysore High Court Act, 1884, Jurisdiction: Karnataka, Principal seat: Bengaluru, Bench: Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Chief Justice: Abhay Shreeniwas Oka |
| Kerala High Court | Year of Establishment: 1 November 1956, Act of Establishment: States Reorganisation Act, 1956, Jurisdiction: Kerala, Lakshadweep, Principal seat: Kochi, Chief Justice: S. Manikumar |
| Madhya Pradesh High Court | Year of Establishment: 2 January 1936, Act of Establishment: Government of India Act, 1935, Jurisdiction: Madhya Pradesh, Principal seat: Jabalpur, Bench: Gwalior, Indore, Chief Justice: Mohammad Rafiq |
| Madras High Court | Year of Establishment: 15 August 1862, Act of Establishment: Indian High Courts Act, 1861, Jurisdiction: Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Principal seat: Madras, Bench: Madurai, Chief Justice: Sanjib Banerjee |
| Manipur High Court | Year of Establishment: 25 March 2013, Act of Establishment: North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012, Jurisdiction: Manipur, Principal seat: Imphal, Chief Justice: Ramalingam Sudhakar |
| Meghalaya High Court | Year of Establishment: 23 March 2013, Act of Establishment: North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012, Jurisdiction: Meghalaya, Principal seat: Shillong, Chief Justice: Biswanath Somadder |
| Orissa High Court | Year of Establishment: 3 April 1948, Act of Establishment: Orissa High Court Ordinance, 1948, Jurisdiction: Orissa, Principal seat: Cuttack, Chief Justice: S. Muralidhar |
| Patna High Court | Year of Establishment: 2 September 1916, Act of Establishment: Letters Patent issued by the then British Crown, Jurisdiction: Bihar, Principal seat: Patna, Chief Justice: Sanjay Karol |
| Punjab and Haryana High Court | Year of Establishment: 15 August 1947, Act of Establishment: Punjab High Court Ordinance, 1947, Jurisdiction: Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Principal seat: Chandigarh, Chief Justice: Ravi Shankar Jha |
| Rajasthan High Court | Year of Establishment: 21 June 1949, Act of Establishment: Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949, Jurisdiction: Rajasthan, Principal seat: Jodhpur, Bench: Jaipur, Chief Justice: Indrajit Mahanty |
| Sikkim High Court | Year of Establishment: 16 May 1975, Act of Establishment: The 36th Amendment to the Indian Constitution, Jurisdiction: Sikkim, Principal seat: Gangtok, Chief Justice: Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari |
| Telangana High Court | Year of Establishment: 1 January 2019, Act of Establishment: Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Jurisdiction: Telangana, Principal seat: Hyderabad, Chief Justice: Hima Kohli |
| Tripura High Court | Year of Establishment: 26 March 2013, Act of Establishment: North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) and Other Related Acts (Amendment), 2012, Jurisdiction: Tripura, Principal seat: Agartala, Chief Justice: Akil Kureshi |
| Uttarakhand High Court | Year of Establishment: 9 November 2000, Act of Establishment: Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, Jurisdiction: Uttarakhand, Principal seat: Nainital, Chief Justice: Raghvendra Singh Chauhan |
How many High Courts in India have jurisdiction more than one State/s or Union Territory/s?
The following are the high courts in India that have jurisdiction over more than one State/s or Union Territory/s:
- Punjab & Haryana High Court- has jurisdiction over Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh.
- Bombay High Court- has jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman, Diu, and Goa.
- Guwahati High Court- has jurisdiction over Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Kolkata High Court- has jurisdiction over West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
- Kerala High Court- has jurisdiction over Kerala and Lakshadweep Islands.
- Madras High Court- has jurisdiction over Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.
Powers & Jurisdictions of High Court of India
Currently, the following jurisdictions are held by a High Court:
- Original jurisdiction
- Writ jurisdiction
- Appellate jurisdiction
- Supervisory jurisdiction
- Control over subordinate courts
- A court of record
- Power of judicial review
Composition, Qualifications, and Tenure of High Courts in India
Following are the main points regarding Composition, Qualifications, and Tenure of High Courts in India. Take a look & remember them throughout your life as it was a general awareness topic.
Composition of the High Court:
- All High Court comprises a Chief Justice and other judges selected by President.
- There is no fixed minimum number of judges for the High Courts.
- Also, appointing the judges in 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 the 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 Court.
- He must have held a judicial office in the territory of India for 10 years.
Tenure:
Normally, the high court judges’ retirement age was set at 60 later on it was increased to 62 in 1963 as per the 15th amendment of the constitution.
HC Judges Appointment Details
- President of India appoints the Chief Justice of a High Court with the consultation of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Governor of the State.
- By the order of the President, Governor, and the Chief Justice of High Court, the other judges will be appointed.
Major Terms related to High Courts in India
- Tribunal – A tribunal is a term for anybody working judicially, whether or not it is known as a tribunal by the title. For instance, an advocate appearing before a Court on which an individual Judge was sitting could call that judge as ‘their tribunal’.
- Permanent Bench – A permanent bench includes one or more High Court judges who meet yearly at a distinct location that is separate from the permanent seat of the High Court.
- Circuit Bench – A Circuit Bench is for areas that are unapproachable but do not have too several matters to justify a fully-fledged permanent bench. Therefore, once or twice a year, some judges travel to these areas and dispose off all the High Court applications of that jurisdiction.
- Division Bench – In a Division Bench, a case is heard and judged by a minimum of 2 judges.
- Full Bench – A Full bench relates to a court of law consisting of a greater-than-normal number of judges.
High Court Judges Salary and Other Perks
From then to now, the salary paid to a High Court Judge has seen massive growth. So, the High court judges salary description is given clearly in the below table:
| High Court Judge Salary | ||
| Designation | Past Salary | After Increment |
| Chief Justice of the High Court | 90,000 | 2,50,000 |
| Other Judges of the High Court | 80,000 | 2,50,000 |
Other than the salary to judges in the high court, there are numerous perks and allowances provided to a Judge in 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 in India?
The last high court in India or the 25th HC of India is Uttarakhand High Court as per the Alphabetical order.
3. Which is the first high court in India?
‘The High Court of Judicature at Fort William’, now called the ‘ High Court of Calcutta ‘, is the first HC of India that came into existence on 14 May 1862 by the Letters Patent, announced under the Indian High Courts Act, 1861, and was formally inaugurated on 1 July 1862.
4. What types of Courts are there in India?
Supreme Court, High Courts, And Subordinate Courts are the three high courts in India.