Calcutta High Court#List of Chief Justices
{{Short description|High Court in West Bengal, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2015}}
{{Infobox high court
| court_name = Calcutta High Court
| native_name = কলকাতা উচ্চ আদালত
| image = Calcutta highcourt.jpg
| caption = Calcutta High Court building
| established = {{start date and age|df=yes|1862|07|01}}
| jurisdiction = West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands
| location = Principal Seat: Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal
Circuit Benches: Jalpaiguri & Port Blair (A & N Islands)
| coordinates = {{coord|22|34|6|N|88|20|36|E|type:landmark_region:IN|display=title,inline}}
| type = Presidential with confirmation of Chief Justice of India and Governor of respective state.
| authority = Constitution of India
| terms = Till 62 years of age
| positions = 72
| website = [http://calcuttahighcourt.gov.in calcuttahighcourt.gov.in]
| chiefjudgetitle = Chief Justice
| chiefjudgename = T. S. Sivagnanam
| termstart = 11 May 2023
| termend =
}}
Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India.{{Cite web |title=Which is the oldest High Court in India? |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/viral/calcutta-high-court-which-is-the-oldest-high-court-in-india-article-95161438 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=TimesNow |language=en}} It is located at Esplanade Row West, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court building's design is somewhat based on the Lakenhal (Cloth Hall) in Ypres in Flanders, Belgium.{{Cite web |url=http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/ |title=Court's official website |access-date=7 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306142046/http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/ |archive-date=6 March 2007 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
Currently, the court has a sanctioned judge strength of 72.
History
File:Calcutta High Court 1860.jpg
File:Calcutta High Court in the 1890s.JPG
The Calcutta High Court is one of the three High Courts in India established at the Presidency Towns by Letters patent granted by Queen Victoria, and is the oldest High Court in India. It was brought into existence as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William by the Letters Patent dated 14 May 1862,[https://www.calcuttahighcourt.gov.in/ A Brief History about Calcutta High Court] issued under the High Courts Act, 1861, which was preceded by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William. The court was formally opened on 1 July 1862. The building structure was designed by Walter Long Bozzi Granville.
Despite the name of the city having officially changed from Calcutta to Kolkata in 2001, the Court, as an institution retained the old name. The bill to rename it as Kolkata High Court was approved by the Union Cabinet on 5 July 2016 along with the renaming of its two other counterparts in Chennai and Mumbai.{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/cabinet-renames-bombay-madras-calcutta-high-courts-kolkata-mumbai-chennai/|title=Cabinet renames high courts in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai|date=5 July 2016}} The Bill called High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 19 July 2016{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/govt-moves-bill-to-change-names-of-high-courts/article8872001.ece|title=Govt. moves Bill to change names of High Courts|last=PTI|newspaper=The Hindu|date=20 July 2016|access-date=9 May 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105171321/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/govt-moves-bill-to-change-names-of-high-courts/article8872001.ece|archive-date=5 November 2016|df=dmy-all}} and is yet to be passed by both Houses of Parliament. Hence, the High Court still retains the old name.
Principal seat and benches
The seat of the Calcutta High Court is at Calcutta (Kolkata), capital of West Bengal. As per the Calcutta High Court (Extension of Jurisdiction) Act, 1953, the Calcutta High Court's jurisdiction was extended to cover Chandernagore (now called Chandannagar) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as of 2 May 1950. The Calcutta High Court extended its Circuit Bench in Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in Jalpaiguri, the divisional headquarters of the North Bengal region. On 7 February 2019, President Ram Nath Kovind finalised the opening of the other circuit bench in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal with the jurisdiction area{{Cite web|url=http://doj.gov.in/sites/default/files/Orders%20Notification%20of%20establishment%20of%20a%20bench%20of%20Calcutta%20High%20Court%20at%20Jalpaiguri.pdf|title=Orders/notification of establishment of a bench of Calcutta High Court at Jalpaiguri (English/ Hindi) (07.02.2019)|access-date=12 February 2019}} within 5 districts- Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar.
Chief Justice
The current Chief Justice of the court is Justice T. S. Sivagnanam.{{Cite news|url=https://barandbench.com/chief-justices-five-high-courts-2/|title=Chief Justices appointed to Five High Courts [Read Notifications] - Bar & Bench|date=2018-10-24|work=Bar & Bench|access-date=2018-10-25|language=en-US}} Sir Barnes Peacock was the first Chief Justice of the High Court. He assumed the charge when the court was founded on 1 July 1862. Romesh Chandra Mitra was the first Indian officiating Chief Justice and Phani Bhushan Chakravartti was the first Indian permanent Chief Justice of the court. The longest-serving Chief Justice was Mr. Sankar Prasad Mitra.
List of Chief Justices
| class="wikitable sortable" width="70%"
!# !Chief Justice !Term |
| —
|Sir Romesh Chandra Mitra |1861 —1861 |
|---|
| 1
| Sir Barnes Peacock |1862–1870 |
| 2
| Sir Richard Couch |1870–1875 |
| 3
| Sir Richard Garth |1875–1886 |
| 4
| Sir William Comer Petheram |1886–1896 |
| 5
| Sir Francis William Maclean |1896–1909 |
| 6
| 1909–1915 |
| 7
| Sir Lancelot Sanderson | 1915–1926 |
| 8
| Sir George Claus Rankin |1926–1934 |
| 9
| Sir Harold Derbyshire |1934–1946 |
| 10
| Sir Arthur Trevor Harries |1946–1952 |
| colspan="3" |After Indian Independence |
| 11
| Shri Phani Bhusan Chakravartti |1952–1958 |
| 12
| Shri Kulada Charan Das Gupta |1958–1959 |
| 13
| Shri Surajit Chandra Lahiri |1959–1961 |
| 14
| Shri Himansu Kumar Bose |1961–1966 |
| 15
|Shri Deep Narayan Sinha |1966–1970 |
| 16
| Shri Prasanta Bihari Mukharji |1970–1972 |
| 17
| Shri Sankar Prasad Mitra |1972–1979 |
| 18
| Shri Amarendra Nath Sen |1979–1981 |
| 19
| Shri Sambhu Chandra Ghose |1981–1983 |
| 20
| Shri Samarendra Chandra Deb |January 1983 – February 1983 |
| 21
| Shri Satish Chandra |1983–1986 |
| 22
| Shri Anil Kumar Sen |September 1986 – October 1986 |
| 23
| Shri Chittatosh Mookerjee |1 November 1986 – 1 November 1987 |
| 24
| Shri Debi Singh Tewatia |1 November 1987 – 1988 |
| 25
| Shri Prabodh Dinkarrao Desai |1988–1991 |
| 26
| Shri Nagendra Prasad Singh |4 February 1992 – 14 June 1992 |
| 27
| Shri Anandamoy Bhattacharjee |1992–1994 |
| 28
| Shri Krishna Chandra Agarwal |1994–1996 |
| 29
|Shri V. N. Khare |2 February 1996 – 20 March 1997 |
| 30
|Shri Prabha Shankar Mishra |1997–1998 |
| 31
|Shri Ashok Kumar Mathur |22 December 1999 – 6 June 2004 |
| 32
|Shri V. S. Sirpurkar |20 March 2005 – 11 January 2007 |
| 33
|Shri Surinder Singh Nijjar |8 March 2007 – 16 November 2009 |
| 34
|Shri Mohit Shantilal Shah |24 December 2009 – 25 June 2010 |
| 35
|Shri Jai Narayan Patel |2010 – 4 October 2012 |
| 36
|Shri Arun Kumar Mishra |14 December 2012 – 6 July 2014 |
| 37
|Smt. Manjula Chellur |5 August 2014 – 21 August 2016 |
| 38
|Shri Girish Chandra Gupta |21 September 2016 – 30 November 2016 |
| 39
|Shri Jyotirmay Bhattacharya |1 May 2018 – 24 September 2018 |
| 40
|Shri Debasish Kar Gupta |30 October 2018 – 31 December 2018 |
| 41
|Shri Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan |4 April 2019 — 28 April 2021 |
| 42
|Shri Prakash Shrivastava |11 October 2021 — 30 March 2023 |
| 43
| Shri T. S. Sivagnanam |11 May 2023 — Incumbent |
Judges
The court has a Sanctioned strength of 72 (Permanent:54, Additional:18) judges.
Judges Elevated to the Supreme Court of India-
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Sr. No !Name of the Judge, Justice !Date of Elevation !Date of Retirement !Parent High Court |
| 1
|24 May 2019 |10 April 2024 |Calcutta |
|---|
| 2
|12 December 2022 |8 February 2030 |Calcutta |
| 3
|17 March 2025 |NIL |Calcutta |
Judges Transferred/Elevated from the Calcutta High Court-
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Sr. No. !Name of the Judge, Justice !Recruitment !Date of Appointment !Date of Retirement !Remark |
| 1
|BAR |22 June 2006 |14 December 2025 |
|---|
| 2
|BAR |22 June 2006 |1 November 2023 |
Sitting Judges of Calcutta High Court-{{See also|List of sitting judges of High Courts of India#Calcutta High Court}}
Building
The neo-Gothic High Court building was constructed in 1872, ten years after the establishment of the court itself.
The design, by then government architect Walter Granville, was loosely modelled on the 13th-century Cloth Hall at Ypres, Belgium.
In 1977 another building named High Court Centenary Building or annexed building was inaugurated to reduce the pressure.{{Cite web|url=http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/district_courts/citysessions.htm|title=CITY SESSIONS COURT, CALCUTTA|last=HISTORICAL BACKGROUND|website=calcuttahighcourt.nic.in|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209100032/http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/district_courts/citysessions.htm|archive-date=9 February 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=3 March 2017|df=dmy-all}}
Connectivity
=Rails=
Eden Gardens railway station is the nearest railway station, which is 650 meters away from the court. Esplanade metro station, the nearest rapid rail transit is 1.3 km away.{{Need Citation|date=September 2024}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Calcutta High Court}}
- [https://www.calcuttahighcourt.gov.in/ Official website]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070306142046/http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/ Former official website] (archived 6 March 2007)
- [http://pib.nic.in/archieve/lreleng/lyr2003/roct2003/30102003/r301020036.html Judge strength in High Courts increased]
{{High courts of India}}
{{Tourist attractions in Kolkata}}
{{Kolkata topics}}
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Category:Organisations based in Kolkata
Category:Tourist attractions in Kolkata
Category:Buildings and structures in Kolkata
Category:Gothic Revival architecture in India
Category:1862 establishments in India