High Courts in India

High Court is the topmost tier of the jurisdiction in every union territory and state which are a part of India. The High Court must exercise the original criminal and civil administration only if the lower courts are not allowed by the law because of territorial jurisdiction or lack of finances. The High Courts might also have original jurisdiction in particular matters if it especially in the constitution as a union or a state law. The major cases which are there in a High Court are generally based on applications from the lower courts and/or writ petitions which are related to articles 226 and 227 of our Indian Constitution. The case which is based on a writ jurisdiction is an original administration of the Indian Government. There are 25 High Courts in India.

High Court

The first High Court was established in the era of the British. The first High Court was established in Calcutta, The Calcutta High Court was established on 2nd July 1862. The jurisdiction area was West Bengal and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands, it has two benches one in Jalpaiguri and the other in Port Blair. The total number of judges is 72. The next High Court was established in Bombay on 14th August 1862 followed by Madras High Court which was established on 15th August 1862. There were two judicial systems located in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay that were present for jurisdiction which was the Supreme Court, Sadar Nizamat and Sadar Diwani Adalat. This jurisdiction was inconvenient and the results were also conflicting at times hence the British parliament decided to introduce the High Courts in India by implementing the Indian High Courts Act, 1861. The bill for Indian High Court was presented by Sir Charles Wood and was approved by the Parliament of British on 6th August 1861.

High Courts in India

There is a total of 25 High Courts in India which are divided according to States and Union Territories. The first High Court was the Calcutta high Court followed by the Bombay High Court and the Madras High Court. The Allahabad High Court has the biggest bench comprising 160 Judges followed by the Bombay High Court with 94 Judges. The Sikkim High Court has the lowest number of judges which is 3 followed by the Meghalaya High court which consists of 4 judges and the Manipur High Court with 5 judges.

Let us look at the list of High Courts according to different criteria:

1. Date of establishment:

• Calcutta High Court, 2nd July 1862
• Bombay High Court, 14th August 1862
• Madras High Court, 15th August 1862
• Allahabad High Court, 17th March 1866
• Karnataka High Court, 1884
• Patna High Court, 2nd September 1916
• High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, 26th March 1928
• Madhya Pradesh High Court, 2nd January 1936
• Punjab and Haryana High Court, 15th August 1947
• Guwahati High Court, 1st March 1948
• Odisha High Court, 3rd April 1948
• Rajasthan High Court, 21st June 1949
• Kerala High Court, 1st November 1956
• Gujarat High Court, 1st May 1960
• Delhi High Court, 31st October 1966
• Himachal High Court, 25th January 1971

These were a few High Courts according to the date of establishment.

2. Let us look at the list of High Courts according to the number of Judges:

• Allahabad High Court (160)
• Bombay High Court (94)
• Punjab and Haryana High Court (85)
• Madras High Court (75)
• Calcutta High Court (72)
• Karnataka High Court (62)
• Delhi High Court (60)
• Patna High Court (53)
• Madhya Pradesh High Court (53)

3. There are a few common High Courts in India such as:

• Punjab and Haryana High Court (Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh)
• Kerala High Court (Kerala, Lakshadweep islands)
• Kolkata High Court (West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands)
• Madras High Court (Tamil Nadu Pondicherry)
• Bombay High Court (Maharashtra, Daman and Diu, Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Goa)
• Guwahati High Court (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram)

Conclusion

This will give a detailed explanation of the High Courts in India. It also mentions the lists of High Courts in India in a few different categories such as date of establishment, number of judges and some Common High Courts. There are a total of 25 High Courts in India at present and the total number of judges is approx. 1104.