Patna High Court

The High Court of Judicature at Patna पटना उच्च न्यायालय
225x250px Seal of the court
Established	22 March 1912
Country	India
Location	Patna, Bihar
Coordinates
Composition method	Presidential assent on advice of the Chief Justice of India with consultation of Governor of Bihar
Authorized by	Constitution of India
Decisions are appealed to	Supreme Court of India
Judge term length	mandatory retirement by age of 62
Website	patnahighcourt.bih.nic.in
Chief Justice
Currently	Hon. Justice Mr. L. Narasimha Reddy since 2 Jan 2015

Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 3 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

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 Patna 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.

The Chief Justice

The present Chief Justice (Acting) of Patna High Court is Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari.

Prominent Judges of Patna High Court

• Hon. Ms. Justice Rekha Doshit, the Chief Justice of Patna High Court; and the first woman to hold this coveted office.
• Hon. Sir Edward Maynerd 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 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
  • Hon. Mr. Justice Lalit Mohan Sharma, the 24th Chief Justice of India

Honorable Judges

Hon. Judge	Date of Elevation	Date of Retirement	Source of Recruitment	Remarks
The Hon. Justice Iqbal A. Ansari, The Acting Chief Justice	04, March 2002	29, October 2016	Service	Judge, Gauhati High Court from 04-03-2002. Transferred to Patna High Court on 11-11-13. Acting Chief Justice, Patna High Court from 14-12-14 to 01-01-2015 and from 01-08-15 till date.
The Hon. Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh	06, March, 2006	05, November 2017	Bar
The Hon. Justice Ramesh Kumar Datta	06, March 2006	31, December 2016	Bar
The Hon. Justice Samarendra Pratap Singh	09, October 2006	01, August 2017	Bar
The Hon. Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi	09, October 2006	11, November 2019	Bar
The Hon. Justice Kishore Kumar Mandal	10, July 2007	21, January 2018	Bar
The Hon. Dr. Justice Ravi Ranjan	14, July 2008	19, December 2022	Bar
The Hon. Justice Anjana Prakash	13, June 2009	16, July 2016	Bar
The Hon. Justice Jyoti Saran	13, June 2009	18, August 2019	Bar
The Hon. Justice Rakesh Kumar	25, December 2009	31, December 2020	Bar
The Hon. Justice Birendra Prasad Verma	18, February 2010	16, January 2017	Bar
The Hon. Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh	18, February 2010	02, October 2020	Bar
The Hon. Justice Akhilesh Chandra	15 Mar 2010	14 Mar 2015	Service
The Hon. Justice Gopal Prasad	15 Mar 2010	5 July 2016	Service
The Hon. Justice Mungeshwar Sahoo	15 Mar 2010	31 Oct 2017	Service
The Hon. Justice Hemant Kumar Srivastava	12 Aug 2010	1 Feb 2021	Service
The Hon. Justice Vijayendra Nath	20 June 2011	12 Aug 2017	Bar
The Hon. Justice Shivaji Pandey	20 June 2011	7 May 2021	Bar
The Hon. Justice Ashwani Kumar Singh	20 June 2011	31 October 2022	Bar
The Hon. Justice Vikash Jain	20 June 2011	17 Feb 2022	Bar
The Hon. Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah	20 June 2011	10 May 2025	Bar
The Hon. Justice Aditya Kumar Trivedi	20 June 2011	10 Aug 2020	Service
The Hon. Justice Rajendra Kumar Mishra	20 June 2011	Oct 2021	Service
The Hon. Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh	05 Apr 2012	Jan 2025	Bar
The Hon. Justice Prabhat Kumar Jha	21 Apr 2014	Jul 2021	Service
The Hon. Justice Jeetendra Mohan Sharma	21 Apr 2014	2018	Service
The Hon. Justice Anjana Mishra	15 May 2014	2020	Bar
The Hon. Justice Nilu Agrawal	15 Apr 2015	Aug 2019	Bar
The Hon. Justice Sudhir Singh	15 Apr 2015	10 Dec 2027	Bar

List of the Former Chief Justices of Patna High Court

Name of Hon. the Chief Justice	From (dd.mm.yyyy)	TO (dd.mm.yyyy)
Hon. L Narasimha Reddy	02.01.2015	31.07.2015
Hon. Rekha Manharlal Doshit	21.06.2010	13.12.2014
Hon. Shri Dipak Misra	23.12.2009	24.06.2010	Elevated to Supreme Court on 10/10/2011
Hon. Shri Prafulla Kumar Mishra	19.08.2009
Hon. Shri R.M. Lodha	13.05.2008	16.12.2008
Hon. Shri Rajesh Balia	05.01.2008	03.03.2008
Hon. Dr. J.N. Bhatt	18.07.2005	16.10.2007
Hon. Shri Ravi S. Dhavan	25.1.2000	22.7.2004
Hon. Shri B.M. Lal	9.7.1997	6.10.1999
Hon. Shri D.P. Wadhwa	29.9.1995	21.3.1997
Hon. Shri G.P. Patnaik	19.5.1995	11.9.1995
Hon. Shri K. Venkataswamy	19.9.1994	6.3.1995
Hon. Shri K.S. Paripoornan	24.1.1994	11.6.1994
Hon. Shri Bimal Chandra Basak	18.3.1991	21.10.1994
Hon. Shri Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani	24.10.1989	17.12.1990 Afternoon
Hon. Shri Shushil Kumar Jha	19.10.1989	23.10.1989
Hon. Shri Dipak Kumar Sen	1.5.1988	1.5.1989
Hon. Shri Bhagwati Prasad Jha	2.1.1988	2.1.1988 Afternoon
Hon. Shri Surjit Singh Sandhawalia	29.11.1983	27.7.1987
Hon. Shri Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh	19.7.1976	12.3.1982 Afternoon
Hon. Shri Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh	3.10.1974	1.5.1976
Hon. Shri Nand Lall Untwalia	29.9.1972	3.10.1974
Hon. Shri Ujjal Narayan Sinha	5.9.1970	29.9.1972
Hon. Shri Satish Chandra Mishra	9.11.1968	5.9.1970
Hon. Shri Ramaswamy Lakshmi Narasimhan	4.1.1965	2.8.1968 Afternoon
Hon. Shri Vaidyanathier Ramaswami	30.4.1956	4.1.1965
Hon. Shri Sudhansu Kumar Das	10.1.1955	30.4.1956
Hon. Shri Syed Jafar Imam	3.9.1953	10.1.1955
Hon. Shri David Ezra Reuben	1.6.1952	2.9.1953
Hon. Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha	8.4.1950	1.6.1952
Hon. Sir Herbert Ribton Meredith	25.1.1950	8.4.1950
Hon. Sir Clifford Monmohan Agarwala	9.1.1948	24.1.1950
Hon. Sir Syed Fazl Ali	19.1.1943	14.10.1946
Hon. Sir Arther Trevor Harries	10.10.1938	19.1.1943
Hon Justice Kulwant Sahay
Hon. Sir Courtney Terrell	31.3.1928	6.5.1938
Hon. Sir Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller	31.10.1917	31.3.1928
Hon. Sir Edward Maynerd Des Champs Chamier	01.03.1916	30.10.1917

Former Puisne Judges

Former Puisne Judges of the Court include:

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

External links

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