Patna High Court

Patna High Court
पटना उच्च न्यायालय
Seal of the court
Established	9 February 1916
Location	Patna, Bihar
Coordinates	25°36′32″N 85°7′32″E
Composition method	Presidential assent on advice of the Chief Justice of India with consultation of Governor of Bihar
Authorized by	Constitution of India
Appeals to	Supreme Court of India
Judge term length	mandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions	53
Website	patnahighcourt.gov.in
Chief Justice
Currently	Hon'ble Justice Sanjay Karol
Since	11 November 2019

Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 9 February 1916 and later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915. The court is headquartered in Patna, the administrative capital of the state.

History of Court

A 2015 stamp dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Patna High Court

Patna High court Gate No.1

Proclamation made by Governor-General of India on 22 March 1912. The foundation-stone of the High Court Building was laid on Monday, 1 December 1913 by His Excellency the late Viceroy and Governor-General of India, Sir Charles Hardinge of Penshurst. The Patna High Court building on its completion was formally opened by the same Viceroy on 3 February 1916. Hon. Sir Justice Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier was the first Chief Justice of this High Court. Starting 18 April 2015, the Patna High Court has planned year long centenary celebrations of 100 years of establishment and the occasion was inaugurated by the President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee chaired by the Governor of Bihar Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi and Chief Justice of India, Justice Mr.H. L. Dattu and the Chief Justice of Patna High Court Justice Mr.L. Narasimha Reddy

Chronology

• 1912 – Proclamation made by Governor-General of India on 22 March 1912.
• 1913 – Foundation-stone of the High Court Building was laid on 1 December 1913.
• 1916 – Patna High Court building completed on 3 February 1916. The High Court actually commenced work from 1 March 1916.
• 1948 – Patna High Court exercised jurisdiction over the territories of the Province of Bihar & Orissa till 26 July 1948, when a separate High Court was constituted for Orissa.
• 1972 – Patna High Court opened a Circuit Bench at Ranchi.
• 1976 – Circuit Bench of Patna High Court at Ranchi became Permanent Bench.
• 2000 – Circuit Bench of Patna High Court at Ranchi became Jharkhand High Court on November 2000, under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000.
• 2015 – Centenary Celebrations starting 18 April 2015.

Prominent Judges of Patna High Court

• Hon. Ms. Justice Rekha Doshit was the Chief Justice of Patna High Court; and the first woman to hold this coveted office.
• Hon. Sir Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier is the first Chief Justice of Patna High Court.
• Hon. Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha was the first Indian Chief Justice of Patna High Court after independence.
• Hon. Mrs. Justice Indu Prabha Singh, the first lady judge of Patna High Court, holds the distinction of being the first woman judge to hold court at Patna High Court and its Ranchi Bench.
• Hon. Mrs. Justice Gyan Sudha Misra, the second lady judge of Patna High Court, is the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India from Bihar.
• This High Court has given two Chief Justices of India, viz.
  • Hon. Mr. Justice Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha, the 6th Chief Justice of India ranchi jharkhand
  • Hon. Mr. Justice Lalit Mohan Sharma, the 24th Chief Justice of India

Honourable Judges

S.No.	Judge Name	Designation	Date of Elevation	Date of Retirement	Source of Recruitment	Remarks
1	Sanjay Karol	Chief Justice	8 March 2007	22 August 2023	Bar	CJ, Patna w.e.f. 11-11-19.
2	Ashwani Kumar Singh	Judge	20 June 2011	31 October 2022	Bar
3	Vikash Jain	Judge	20 June 2011	17 February 2022	Bar
4	Ahsanuddin Amanullah	Judge	20 June 2011	10 May 2025	Bar
5	Rajendra Kumar Mishra	Judge	20 June 2011	30 September 2021	Service
6	Chakradhari Sharan Singh	Judge	5 April 2012	19 January 2025	Bar
7	Prabhat Kumar Jha	Judge	21 April 2014	15 July 2021	Service
8	Ashutosh Kumar	Judge	15 May 2014	30 September 2028	Bar	Transferred to Delhi High Court on 7 January 2015, Returned to Patna High Court on 24-11-17.
9	Sudhir Singh	Judge	15 April 2015	10 December 2027	Bar
10	Birendra Kumar	Judge	16 November 2016	22 May 2025	Service
11	Arvind Srivastava	Judge	9 December 2016	2024	Service
12	Dr. Anil Kumar Upadhyay	Judge	22 May 2017	3 December 2024	Bar
13	Rajeev Ranjan Prasad	Judge	22 May 2017	4 September 2028	Bar
14	Madhuresh Prasad	Judge	22 May 2017	Oct 2030	Bar
15	Mohit Kumar Shah	Judge	22 May 2017	Apr 2031	Bar

List of the Chief Justices of Patna High Court

Name of Hon. the Chief Justice	From (dd.mm.yyyy)	To (dd.mm.yyyy)	Comments
Hon. Sanjay Karol	11 November 2019	Incumbent	Transferred from Tripura High Court
Hon. Amreshwar Pratap Sahi	17 November 2018	10 November 2019	Transferred from Allahabad High Court
Hon. Mukesh Shah	12 August 2018	1 November 2018	Elevated to Supreme Court on 2 November 2018
Hon. Iqbal Ahmed Ansari	29 August 2016	28 October 2016
Hon. L. Narasimha Reddy	2 January 2015	31 July 2015
Hon. Rekha Manharlal Doshit	21 June 2010	13 December 2014
Hon. Shri Dipak Misra	23 December 2009	24 June 2010	Elevated to Supreme Court on 10 October 2011
Hon. Shri J. B. Koshy	19 August 2009	16 September 2009
Hon. Shri R.M. Lodha	13 May 2008	16 December 2008
Hon. Shri Rajesh Balia	5 January 2008	3 March 2008
Hon. Dr. J.N. Bhatt	18 July 2005	16 October 2007
Hon. Shri Ravi S. Dhavan	25 January 2000	22 July 2004
Hon. Shri B.M. Lal	9 July 1997	6 October 1999
Hon. Shri D.P. Wadhwa	29 September 1995	21 March 1997
Hon. Shri G.P. Patnaik	19 May 1995	11 September 1995
Hon. Shri K. Venkataswamy	19 September 1994	6 March 1995
Hon. Shri K. S. Paripoornan	24 January 1994	11 June 1994
Hon. Shri Bimal Chandra Basak	18 March 1991	21 October 1994
Hon. Shri Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani	24 October 1989	17 December 1990
Hon. Shri Shushil Kumar Jha	19 October 1989	23 October 1989
Hon. Shri Dipak Kumar Sen	1 May 1988	1 May 1989
Hon. Shri Bhagwati Prasad Jha	2 January 1988	2 January 1988
Hon. Shri Surjit Singh Sandhawalia	29 November 1983	27 July 1987
Hon. Shri Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh	19 July 1976	12 March 1982
Hon. Shri Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh	3 October 1974	1 May 1976
Hon. Shri Nand Lall Untwalia	29 September 1972	3 October 1974
Hon. Shri Ujjal Narayan Sinha	5 September 1970	29 September 1972
Hon. Shri Satish Chandra Mishra	9 November 1968	5 September 1970
Hon. Shri Ramaswamy Lakshmi Narasimhan	4 January 1965	2 August 1968
Hon. Shri Vaidyanathier Ramaswami	30 April 1956	4 January 1965
Hon. Shri Sudhansu Kumar Das	10 January 1955	30 April 1956
Hon. Shri Syed Jafar Imam	3 September 1953	10 January 1955
Hon. Shri David Ezra Reuben	1 June 1952	2 September 1953
Hon. Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha	8 April 1950	1 June 1952
Hon. Sir Herbert Ribton Meredith	25 January 1950	8 April 1950
Hon. Sir Clifford Monmohan Agarwala	9 January 1948	24 January 1950
Hon. Sir Syed Fazl Ali	19 January 1943	14 October 1946
Hon. Sir Arthur Trevor Harries	10 October 1938	19 January 1943
Hon Justice Kulwant Sahay	27 November 1922	22 January 1934
Hon. Sir Courtney Terrell	31 March 1928	6 May 1938
Hon. Sir Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller	31 October 1917	31 March 1928
Hon. Sir Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier	1 March 1916	30 October 1917

Former Puisne Judges

Former Puisne Judges of the Court include:

Sir John Bucknill (1920–1926), former Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements

External links

• {{URL|example.com|optional display text}}
• Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts
• Judge strength in High Courts increased