Delhi High Court

The High Court of Delhi (IAST: dillī uchcha nyāyālaya) was established on 31 October 1966. The High Court of Delhi was established with four judges. They were Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. K. Kapur.[1] Presently, the High Court has a sanctioned strength of 45 permanent judges and 15 additional judges.[1]

Delhi High Court
दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय
Established31 October 1966
LocationNew Delhi
Coordinates28.6090°N 77.2361°E / 28.6090; 77.2361
Composition methodPresidential with confirmation of Chief Justice of India and Governor of respective state.
Authorized byConstitution of India
Appeals toSupreme Court of India
Judge term lengthMandatory retirement at 62 years of age
Number of positions60 (45 permanent, 15 Additional)
Websitedelhihighcourt.nic.in
Chief Justice
CurrentlyDhirubhai Naranbhai Patel
Since7 June 2019

History

On 21 March 1919, the High Court of Judicature at Lahore was established with jurisdiction over the provinces of Punjab and Delhi. This jurisdiction lasted until 1947 when India was partitioned.

The High Courts (Punjab) Order, 1947 established a new High Court for the province of East Punjab with effect from 15 August 1947.[2] The India (Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws) Order, 1947 provided that any reference in an existing Indian law to the High Court of Judicature at Lahore be replaced by a reference to the High Court of East Punjab.[1]

The High Court of East Punjab started functioning from Shimla in a building called "Peterhoff". This building burnt down in January, 1981.

When the Secretariat of the Punjab Government shifted to Chandigarh in 1954-55, the High Court also shifted to Chandigarh. The High Court of Punjab, as it later came to be called, exercised jurisdiction over Delhi through a Circuit Bench which dealt with the cases pertaining to the Union Territory of Delhi and the Delhi Administration.[1]

In view of the importance of Delhi, its population and other considerations, the Indian Parliament, by enacting the Delhi High Court Act, 1966, established the High Court of Delhi effective from 31 October 1966.[1]

By virtue of Section 3(1) of the Delhi High Court Act, the Central Government was empowered to appoint a date by a notification in the official gazette, establishing a High Court for the Union Territory of Delhi. The appointed date was 31 October 1966.

The High Court of Delhi initially exercised jurisdiction not only over the Union Territory of Delhi, but also Himachal Pradesh. The High Court of Delhi had a Himachal Pradesh Bench at Shimla in a building called Ravenswood. The High Court of Delhi continued to exercise jurisdiction over Himachal Pradesh until the State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970 came into force on 25 January 1971.[1]

Original Side Civil Jurisdiction

The High Court of Delhi is one of the five High Courts in India to have original civil side jurisdiction over their territory.[3] This means that civil cases can be filed directly in the High Court, whereas the High Court generally only has appellate civil jurisdiction otherwise. The other High Courts which have original side jurisdiction are: Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and Himachal Pradesh.[4]

Backlog

As per the report released on 2006-08, Delhi High court has a long list of pending cases. The backlog is such that it would take 466 years to resolve them. In a bid to restore public trust and confidence, Delhi court spent 5 minutes per case and disposed of 94,000 cases in 2008-10.[5]

Former Chief Justices
# Chief Justices Tenure
Start End
1 K. S. Hegde 31 October 1966 16 July 1967
- M K M Ismail 17 July 1967 13 November 1967
2 I. D. Dua 14 November 1967 1 August 1969
3 H. R. Khanna 1 August 1969 22 Septemb
4 Hardayal Hardy 22 September 1971 15 May 1972
5 Narain Andley 15 May 1972 4 June 1974
6 T. V. R. Tatachari 4 June 1974 16 October 1978
7 V. S. Deshpande 16 October 1978 27 March 1980
8 Prakash Narain 8 January 1981 6 August 1985
9 Rajinder Sachar 6 August 1985 22 December 1985
10 D. K. Kapur 22 December 1985 20 August 1986
11 T.P.S. Chawla 20 August 1986 16 August 1987
- R. N. Aggarwal (acting) 16 August 1987 21 August 1987
12 Yogeshwar Dayal 21 August 1987 18 March 1988
13 Rabindranath Pyne 18 March 1988 28 September 1990
14 Milap Chand Jain 28 November 1990 21 July 1991
15 G. C. Mittal 5 August 1991 4 March 1994
16 M. Jagannadha Rao 12 April 1994 21 March 1997
17 Mahinder Narain 21 March 1997 30 December 1999
18 Sam Nariman Variava 31 December 1999 15 March 2000
19 Arijit Pasayat 10 May 2000 19 October 2001
20 S.B. Sinha 26 November 2001 1 October 2002
21 B. C. Patel 5 March 2003 7 August 2005
22 Markandey Katju 12 October 2005 10 April 2006
23 Mukundakam Sharma 4 December 2006 9 April 2008
24 Ajit Prakash Shah 11 May 2008 12 February 2010
25 Dipak Misra 24 May 2010 10 October 2011
26 D Murugesan 26 September 2012 10 June 2013
- Badar Durrez Ahmed (acting) 10 June 2013 1 September 2013
27 N. V. Ramana 2 September 2013 16 February 2014
- Badar Durrez Ahmed (acting) 17 February 2014 20 April 2014
28 G. Rohini 21 April 2014 13 April 2017
- Gita Mittal (acting) 14 April 2017 10 August 2018
29 Rajendra Menon 11 August 2018 6 June 2019

See also

References
  1. "History – Delhi HC". delhihighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  2. "The High Courts (Punjab) Order, 1947)" (PDF). Www.delhihighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  3. "Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018" (PDF). Delhi High Court.
  4. "Indian Courts". Daksh. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  5. "At 5 minutes per case, Delhi high court clears 94,000 in 2 years". The Times Of India. 30 May 2012.
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