Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court is the High Court of the state of Gujarat. It was established on 1 May 1960 under the Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960 after the state of Gujarat split from Bombay State.

The seat of the court is Ahmedabad.

Establishment This High Court was established on 1 May 1960 as a result of bifurcation of the former State of Bombay into two States of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The High Court started functioning near Akashwani, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad. The High Court had later shifted to the new building at Sarkhej - Gandhinagar Highway, Sola, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, from 16 January 1999.

Jurisdiction The Gujarat High Court has jurisdiction over the entire state of Gujarat and on all district, administrative and other courts in Gujarat. This high court is a Court of record and empowered to punish anyone for contempt of court.

Powers Unlike Union Judiciary, the state judiciary possesses wide powers which include powers such as Appellate, Second Appellate in some cases, Revisionary, Review etc. It also has power to issue various writs to courts and authorities under its jurisdiction. Intra-Court appeals, when permissible under Clause - 15 of Letters Patent, also lie within the same court from decision of a Single Judge to a Division Bench which comprises two Judges. It has power of superintendence on all courts under it under Article 227 of the Constitution of India. The High Courts are also empowered to hear Public Interest Litigations.

Chief Justice and Judges

The present strength of Gujarat High court is 35 against sanctioned strength of 52 posts which includes 39 permanent posts and 13 additional posts.

The high court is headed by the Chief Justice on administrative side. They are appointed by President of India under warrant. However, the president is required to consult the Governor of Gujarat and the Chief Justice of India before making such appointment. The Governor of Gujarat administers the oath of office at the time of appointment. The present Chief Justice of the court is Justice Sunita Agarwal. Various benches are constituted depending upon the requirements of that High Court. These benches usually consist of division benches (two judges) and benches presided over by single judges. A roster is maintained by the High Court to assign the matters between various benches. Chief Justices in all the High Courts as also the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are masters of the roster.

Judges All judges of the high court are appointed by the President of India after recommendation by the Supreme Court Collegium. They hold constitutional post and there are ample safeguards provided in the constitution to ensure the independence of the judiciary. Any judge can resign by writing to the President of India. Terms of appointment of judges cannot be altered to their disadvantage after their appointment.

Qualifications The following are qualifications to be judge of Gujarat High Court or any other High Court in India. The individual must be citizen of India The individual must have held a judicial office in India for at least ten years; or Been advocate in any high court or two or more courts in succession for at least 10 years.

Live Streaming The High Court of Gujarat was pioneer in the country to live stream its proceedings. After successful implementation of live proceedings of its benches, the High Court also began live streaming of proceedings of the Principal District Courts across the state from February, 2023.

Former Chief Justices #PortraitChief JusticeTenureParent High CourtStartEnd1Sunderlal Trikamlal Desai1 May 196025 January 1961Bombay2Kantilal Thakoredas Desai26 January 196122 May 1963Bombay3Jaishanker Manilal Shelat31 May 196324 February 1966Bombay4Nomanbhai Mahmedbhai Miabhoy21 February 196615 September 1967Bombay5P. N. Bhagwati16 September 196716 July 1973Gujarat6Bipinchandra Jivanlal Diwan17 July 19731 July 1976Gujarat7Seshareddi Obul Reddy7 July 197618 August 1977Andhra Pradesh(6)Bipinchandra Jivanlal Diwan28 August 197720 August 1981Gujarat8Manharlal Pranlal Thakkar20 August 198115 March 1983Gujarat9Padmanabham Subramanian Poti28 September 19831 February 1985Kerala10Puliyangudi Ramaiyapillai Gokulakrishnan21 March 198512 August 1990Madras11Ganendra Narayan Ray2 December 19907 October 1991Calcutta12Sundaram Nainar Sundaram15 June 199213 December 1993Madras13Bhupinder Nath Kirpal14 December 199311 September 1995Delhi14Gurudas Datta Kamat1 July 19964 January 1997Bombay15Kumaran Sreedharan20 October 19973 June 1998Kerala16K. G. Balakrishnan16 July 19987 September 1999Kerala17D. M. Dharmadhikari25 January 20004 March 2002Madhya Pradesh18Daya Saran Sinha17 March 200218 March 2003Allahabad19Bhawani Singh25 August 200327 March 2006Himachal Pradesh20Y. R. Meena3 February 200730 June 2008Rajasthan21K S Panicker Radhakrishnan4 September 200816 November 2009Kerala22S J Mukhopadhaya9 December 200913 September 2011Patna23Bhaskar Bhattacharya21 July 201228 September 2014Calcutta24R. Subhash Reddy12 February 201601 November 2018Andhra Pradesh25Vikram Nath10 September 201930 August 2021Allahabad26Aravind Kumar13 October 202112 February 2023Karnataka27Sonia Giridhar Gokani13 February 202325 February 2023Gujarat

Judges elevated as Chief Justices This sections contains list of only those judges elevated as chief justices whose parent high court is Gujarat. This includes those judges who, at the time of appointment as chief justice, may not be serving in Gujarat High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of appointment as chief justice were serving in Gujarat High Court but does not have Gujarat as their Parent High Court.

Colour Key

Symbol Key Elevated to Supreme Court of India Resigned Died in office NameImageAppointed as CJ in HC ofDate of appointmentDate of retirementTenureAs JudgeAs Chief JusticeAs Chief JusticeAs JudgePrafullachandra Natwarlal BhagwatiGujaratBipinchandra Jivanlal DiwanGujarat, transferred to Andhra Pradesh then back to GujaratManharlal Pranlal ThakkarGujaratTryambkalal Umedchand MehtaHimachal PradeshPrabodh Dinkarrao DesaiHimachal Pradesh, transferred to Calcutta then to BombayShailesh Bhadrayulal MajumdarAndhra Pradesh, transferred to KarnatakaGirish Thakorlal NanavatiOrissa, transferred to KarnatakaAmratlal Parmananddas RavaniRajasthanManharlal Bhikhalal ShahBombayChunilal Karsandas ThakkerHimachal Pradesh, transferred to BombayBabulal Chandulal PatelJammu & Kashmir, transferred to DelhiJitendrakumar Nanalal BhattPatnaKshitij Rameshbhai VyasBombayJagdish Madhurlal PanchalRajasthanAnil Ramesh DaveAndhra Pradesh, transferred to BombayMohit Shantilal ShahCalcutta, transferred to BombayRekha Manharlal DoshitPatnaDhirendra Hiralal WaghelaKarnataka, transferred to Orissa then to BombayMukesh Rasikbhai ShahPatnaKalpesh Satyendra JhaveriOrissaAkil Abdulhamid KureshiTripura, transferred to RajasthanDhirubhai Naranbhai PatelDelhiRashmin Manharbhai ChhayaGauhatiSonia Giridhar GokaniGujaratAshish Jitendra DesaiKeralaNilay Vipinchandra AnjariaKarnatakaVipul Manubhai PancholiPatnaAlpesh Yeshvant KogjeMadhya PradeshIncumbent

Judges appointed as Acting Chief Justice NameAppointed as ACJ in HC ofDate of appointment as JudgePeriod as Acting Chief JusticeDate of retirementTenure as ACJTenure as JudgeRemarksRef..Jayantilal Bapalal MehtaGujarat --Tryambkalal Umedchand MehtaHimachal PradeshBecame permanentP. D. DesaiGujarat --Batukumar Kantiprasad MehtaGujaratRameshkumar Chunilal MankadGujaratRetired as ACJShailesh Bhadrayulal MajmudarGujarat --G. T. NanavatiOrissaBecame permanentR. A. MehtaGujarat --C. K. ThakkerGujaratB. C. PatelGujaratNiranjan Janmashanker PandyaBombayJ. N. BhattGujaratBehram Jahanbux ShethnaGujaratJagdish Madhurlal PanchalRajasthanBecame permanentM. S. ShahGujarat --Ashokkumar Laxminarayan DaveGujaratJayant Maganlal PatelGujaratTransferred to KarnatakaK. S. JhaveriRajasthan --A. A. KureshiGujaratTransferred to BombayD. N. PatelJharkhand --Elevated as CJ of DelhiA. S. DaveGujarat --R. M. ChhayaGujaratS. G. GokaniGujaratBecame permanentA. J. DesaiGujaratElevated as CJ of Kerala

Judges elevated to Supreme Court This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Gujarat. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Gujarat High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Gujarat High Court but does not have Gujarat as their Parent High Court.

Colour Key

Key Resigned Died in office #Name of the JudgeImageDate of AppointmentDate of RetirementTenureImmediately preceding officeIn Parent High CourtIn Supreme CourtIn High Court(s)In Supreme CourtTotal tenure1Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati5th CJ of Gujarat HC2Dhirajlal Ambelal DesaiJudge of Gujarat HC3Manharlal Pranlal Thakkar8th CJ of Gujarat HC4Aziz Mushabber AhmadiJudge of Gujarat HC5Shailesh Bhadrayulal Majumdar14th CJ of Karnataka HC6Girish Thakorlal Nanavati15th CJ of Karnataka HC7Manharlal Bhikhalal Shah30th CJ of Bombay HC8Chunilal Karsandas Thakker33rd CJ of Bombay HC9Jagdish Madhurlal Panchal26th CJ of Rajasthan HC10Anil Ramesh Dave38th CJ of Bombay HC11Mukesh Rasikbhai Shah41st CJ of Patna HC12Bela TrivediJudge of Gujarat HC13Jamshed Burjor PardiwalaIncumbentJudge of Gujarat HC14Nilay Vipinchandra Anjaria34th CJ of Karnataka HC15Vipul Manubhai Pancholi45th CJ of Patna HC

Gujarat High Court

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