Gauhati High Court

Guwahati High Court
Guwahati High Court Building
26.1913°N 91.7514°E / 26.1913; 91.7514
Established	5 April 1948 (1948-04-05)
Jurisdiction	Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram
Location	Principal Seat: Guwahati, Assam Circuit Benches: Kohima, Aizawl & Itanagar
Coordinates	26.1913°N 91.7514°E / 26.1913; 91.7514
Composition method	Presidential with confirmation of Chief Justice of India and Governor of respective state.
Authorised by	Constitution of India
Appeals to	Supreme Court of India
Judge term length	mandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions	30 (Permanent 22; Additional 8)
Website	www.ghconline.gov.in
Chief Justice
Currently	Vijay Bishnoi
Since	5 February 2024

The Gauhati High Court was promulgated by governor general of India on 1 March 1948 after the Government of India Act 1935 was passed, establishing the high court with effect from 5 April 1948, for the then-province of Assam. It was originally known as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland, but renamed as Gauhati High Court in 1971 by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.

It has largest jurisdiction in terms of states, with its area covering the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram.

History

After Indian independence, the Assam Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution on 9 September 1947 that a High Court be established for the Province of Assam. In exercise of power conferred by the Government of India Act 1935, the Governor General of India on 1 March 1948 promulgated the Assam High Court Order, 1948, establishing the High Court of Assam. It was inaugurated on 5 April 1948 by H. J. Kania, the chief justice of India. Sir R.F. Lodge was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the Assam High Court on the same day. The Assam High Court initially had its sittings at Shillong but shifted to Guwahati on 14 August 1948.

Later, when Nagaland state was created on 1 December 1963, the Assam High Court was renamed as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland.

On re-organization of the northeastern region of India by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, the High Court of Assam and Nagaland was abolished with effect from 21 January 1972 by section 28(1)(a) of the Act. The Courts of Judicial Commissioners for Manipur and Tripura, which were functioning as high courts, were also abolished by section 30(1) of the Act. In place of these three entities, a common high court for five states, named Gauhati High Court, was established by section 28(1)(b) of the Act. This High Court was given jurisdiction over the then union territories of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram by section 32 of the Act.

After Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura got a high court, the Gauhati High Court ceased its jurisdiction in these three states.

Principal seat and benches

The principal seat of the Gauhati High Court is at Guwahati in Assam. The court has 3 outlying benches. These are:

1. The Kohima bench for Nagaland state (established on 1 December 1972)
2. The Aizawl bench for Mizoram state (established on 5 July 1990)
3. The Itanagar bench for Arunachal Pradesh state (established on 12 August 2000)

Former benches, now full-fledged high courts:

1. The Imphal bench (established on 21 January 1972) (Converted to a high court in March 2013)
2. The Agartala bench (established on 24 January 1972) (Converted to a high court in March 2013)
3. The Shillong bench (established on 4 September 1974) (Converted to a high court in March 2013)

The Kohima bench for Nagaland state

The Kohima bench is located on the eastern slope of the Ministers' Hill in the capital city of Nagaland, Kohima. The building where the Kohima bench is was earlier a hostel, which was renovated for the Kohima bench. The inauguration of the bench was on 1 December 1972, by the Honorable Mr. Justice M.C. Pathak.

The permanent judge for the state of Nagaland is Lanusungkum Jamir. Elevated as Additional Judge on 22 May 2013.

The Itanagar bench for Arunachal Pradesh state

The permanent bench at Itanagar was inaugurated on 12 August 2000 by A.S. Anand at Naharlagun, which is located about 13 km. from the capital town, Itanagar. The permanent judge is Pranoy Kumar Musahary.

The Aizawl bench for Mizoram state

The Aizawl permanent bench is situated at the capital city of Mizoram, Aizawl. On 5 July 1990, the Aizawl permanent bench of the Gauhati High Court was established and inaugurated by the then-chief justice of India, S.B. Mukherjee. The permanent judge is M. R. Pathak. Elevated as additional judge on 22 May 2013 is Michael Zothankhuma.

List of chief justices

#	Chief justice	Tenure
		Start	End
1	Leonard Stone (judge)	1947	1947
2	Ronald Francis Lodge	1947	1948
3	T V Thadani	1948	1949
4	Sarjoo Prasad	1949	1950
5	Chandreswar Prasad Sinha	1950	1952
6	Holiram Deka	1952	1952
7	G. Mehrotra	1952	1953
(6)	Holiram Deka	1954	1957
(7)	G. Mehrotra	1957	1958
(6)	Holiram Deka	1958	1960
(7)	G. Mehrotra	1960	1965
8	C. S. Row Nayudu	1965	1970
(7)	G. Mehrotra	1970	1973
9	S. K. Dutta	1973	1973
(8)	C. S. Row Nayudu	1973	1974
(9)	S. K. Dutta	1974	1975
10	M. C. Pathak	1975	1976
11	M. S. Swamy	1976	1977
(10)	M. C. Pathak	1977	1978
(11)	M. S. Swamy	1978	1978
12	C. M. Lodha	6 July 1978	10 March 1979
13	Debi Singh Tewatia	10 March 1979	30 September 1985
14	P. C. Reddy	30 September 1985	2 November 1986
15	K. M. Lahiri	1986	1986
16	T. S. Misra	1986	1988
17	G. M. Lodha	1 March 1988	15 March 1988
18	A. S. Raghuvir	6 May 1988	21 March 1991
19	R. K. Manisana Singh	27 January 1994	1 February 1994
20	V. K. Khanna	1 February 1994	14 February 1997
21	M. Ramakrishna	18 June 1997	12 February 1999
22	Brijesh Kumar	12 February 1999	19 October 2000
23	N. C. Jain	20 October 2000	5 April 2001
24	R. S. Mongia	5 April 2001	10 June 2002
25	P. P. Naolekar	10 June 2002	27 August 2004
26	Binod Kumar Roy	27 August 2004	5 December 2005
27	B. S. Reddy	5 December 2005	12 January 2007
28	Jasti Chelameswar	12 January 2007	17 March 2010
29	Ramesh Surajmal Garg	17 April 2010	18 June 2010
30	Madan Lokur	18 June 2010	20 December 2011
31	Adarsh Kumar Goel	20 December 2011	11 October 2013
32	Abhay Manohar Sapre	11 October 2013	13 August 2014
33	Ajit Singh	2014	2015
(31)	Adarsh Kumar Goel	2015	2015
(33)	Ajit Singh	2015	2016
(32)	Abhay Manohar Sapre	2016	2016
(33)	Ajit Singh	5 March 2016	5 September 2018
(32)	Abhay Manohar Sapre	5 September 2018	29 October 2018
34	A. S. Bopanna	29 October 2018	24 May 2019
35	Ajai Lamba	24 May 2019	20 September 2020
36	N. Kotiswar Singh	21 September 2020	9 January 2021
37	Sudhanshu Dhulia	10 January 2021	8 May 2022
(36)	N. Kotiswar Singh	9 May 2022	22 June 2022
38	Rashmin Manharbhai Chhaya	23 June 2022	11 January 2023
(36)	N. Kotiswar Singh	12 January 2023	14 February 2023
39	Sandeep Mehta	15 February 2023	8 November 2023
40	Vijay Bishnoi	5 February 2024	Incumbent

See also

• High Courts of India

References

• Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts
• Judge strength in High Courts increased

External links

• Gauhati High Court - legal directory