The High Courts

The 25 High Courts

Articles 214–231

India has 25 High Courts. Article 214 provides a High Court for each state, and Article 231 lets Parliament set up a common High Court for two or more states or Union Territories. Several High Courts therefore cover more than one state or territory. The three oldest — Calcutta, Bombay and Madras — were set up in 1862 under the Indian High Courts Act 1861; the newest, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, were created by splitting the common High Court on 1 January 2019.

• Oldest: Calcutta (1 July 1862).
• Newest: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (1 January 2019).
• Retirement age of High Court judges: 62.
• Common High Courts: Bombay, Gauhati, Punjab and Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, among others.

The Indian High Courts Act, 1861

Replacing the Supreme Courts and Sadar Adalats

The Indian High Courts Act 1861 abolished the Supreme Courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay (the Crown's courts in the presidency towns) and the Sadar Diwani and Sadar Nizamat Adalats (the Company's courts), and merged them into chartered High Courts. Letters Patent established the High Courts of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1862.

• Merged the Crown's Supreme Courts and the Company's Sadar Adalats.
• High Courts set up by Letters Patent, 1862.

1862

Calcutta High Court

Kolkata · benches at Port Blair and Jalpaiguri

The oldest High Court in India, established on 1 July 1862, with jurisdiction over West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Its red Gothic building was modelled on the Cloth Hall at Ypres in Belgium. Sambhu Nath Pandit, appointed in 1863, was its first Indian judge.

• Oldest High Court (1 July 1862).
• Building modelled on the Cloth Hall, Ypres.
• Covers West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

1862

Bombay High Court

Mumbai · benches at Nagpur, Aurangabad, Panaji and Kolhapur

Established on 14 August 1862, with jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Goa, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Its Gothic Revival building (completed 1878) was designed by Col. James A. Fuller. The High Court kept the name "Bombay" when the city was renamed Mumbai in 1995. A fourth bench (a circuit bench) began sitting at Kolhapur on 18 August 2025.

• Covers Maharashtra, Goa, and DNH & DD.
• Kolhapur circuit bench from 18 August 2025.
• Tilak's 1908 words from the dock are inscribed in the building.

1862

Madras High Court

Chennai · bench at Madurai

Established on 15 August 1862, with jurisdiction over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Its Indo-Saracenic building (1892) is among the largest court complexes in the world and once had a working lighthouse on its grounds. The Madurai bench opened in 2004.

• Covers Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
• Madurai bench since 2004.