Jharkhand High Court is the High Court for the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was established on 15 November 2000, following the bifurcation of the state of Bihar and succeeded the jurisdiction previously exercised by the Patna High Court over the region. Since 24 May 2023, the High Court has been functioning from a newly constructed complex at Dhurwa, Ranchi, which was inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu. The campus is spread across 165 acres, making it the largest High Court complex in India by area.
History
A circuit bench of the Patna High Court was established at Ranchi on 6 March 1972 under clause 36 of the letters patent of the Patna High Court. The circuit bench became the permanent bench of the Patna High Court, by the High Court at Patna (Establishment of Permanent Bench at Ranchi) Act 1976 (Act 57 of 1976) on 8 April 1976. This permanent bench finally became the Jharkhand High Court on reorganisation of Bihar state on 15 November 2000, under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000.
In 2013, the Government of Jharkhand approved plans for a new High Court complex at Dhurwa, Ranchi, in view of the growing caseload and limited capacity of the old building at Doranda. Construction began in 2015 on an area of about 165 acres, of which 72 acres were earmarked for the main court complex. The foundation stone was laid with the aim of creating a modern judicial infrastructure and work continued for nearly eight years.
The new building of the Jharkhand High Court was inaugurated by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, on 24 May 2023 in the presence of the Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, and other dignitaries. Spread over 165 acres, it is the largest High Court complex in India by area. The project was built at an estimated cost of around ₹550 crore for construction, while including land acquisition and associated facilities, the overall cost has been estimated at close to ₹1,000 crore.
The main structure contains 25 air-conditioned courtrooms with adjoining judges’ chambers, ante rooms and waiting areas. The Chief Justice’s block includes a video conference hall, kitchen, dining area and a large conference room. For the Bar, the complex provides two large halls with a combined capacity of 1,660 advocates, 76 senior advocate chambers with attached toilets and pantries, 369 additional lawyer chambers, recreation halls for men and women, clerks’ halls and a bar room. The central lobby measures nearly 14,000 square feet.
Supporting infrastructure includes 12 conference rooms, registrar chambers, offices for the Advocate General and public prosecutors, auditoriums, committee halls, typist blocks, dispensaries, barracks and two canteens. The complex also provides parking space for about 2,000 vehicles and is under surveillance with more than 500 CCTV cameras. Built with sustainable features, the new campus has a 2,000 KVA solar system that supplies about 40% of its power needs, a sewage treatment plant of 200 KLD capacity to recycle water, and more than 4,400 trees planted within the grounds. The entire facility is designed as a modern judicial hub combining functionality, security, and environmental sustainability.
Chief Justice and Judges
Jharkhand High Court is permitted to have a maximum of 25 judges of which 20 may be permanently appointed and 5 may be additionally appointed. Currently, it has 15 judges.
Justice Mahesh Sharadchandra Sonak is the current Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court, having assumed office on 9 January 2026. List of Former Chief Justices
No.Chief JusticeTerm startTerm endPatna High Court1Sir Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller31 October 191731 March 19282Sir Courtney Terrell31 March 19286 May 19383Sir Arther Trevor Harries10 October 193819 January 19434Sir Syed Fazl Ali19 January 194314 October 19465Sir Clifford Monmohan Agarwala9 January 194824 January 19506Sir Herbert Ribton Meredith25 January 19508 April 19507Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha8 April 19501 June 19528David Ezra Reuben1 June 19522 September 19539Syed Jafar Imam3 September 195310 January 195510Sudhansu Kumar Das10 January 195530 April 195611Vaidyanathier Ramaswami30 April 19564 January 196512Ramaswamy Lakshmi Narasimhan4 January 19652 August 196813Satish Chandra Mishra9 November 19685 September 197014Ujjal Narayan Sinha5 September 197029 September 197215Nand Lall Untwalia29 September 19723 October 197416Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh3 October 19741 May 197617Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh19 July 197612 March 198218Surjit Singh Sandhawalia29 November 198327 July 198719Bhagwati Prasad Jha2 January 19882 January 198820Dipak Kumar Sen1 May 19881 May 198921Shushil Kumar Jha19 October 198923 October 198922Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani24 October 198917 December 199023Bimal Chandra Basak18 March 199121 October 199424K. S. Paripoornan24 January 199411 June 199425K. Venkataswamy19 September 19946 March 199526G.P. Patnaik19 May 199511 September 199527D.P. Wadhwa29 September 199521 March 199728B.M. Lal29 September 19956 October 199929Ravi S. Dhavan6 October 199915 November 2000
#PortraitChief JusticeTerm startTerm endJharkhand High Court1Vinod Kumar Gupta5 December 20004 March 20032P. K. Balasubramanyan10 March 200326 August 2004--S. J. Mukhopadhaya26 August 200428 February 20053Altamas Kabir1 March 20058 September 20054Nelavoy Dhinakar4 December 20059 June 2006--S. J. Mukhopadhaya10 June 200616 September 2006--M.Y. Eqbal17 September 200617 September 20065M. Karpaga Vinayagam17 September 200615 May 20086Gyan Sudha Misra13 July 200830 April 2010--Sushil Harkauli1 May 201021 August 20107Bhagwati Prasad22 August 201012 May 2011--Prakash Chandra Tatia13 May 201110 September 20118Prakash Chandra Tatia11 September 20113 August 2013--Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel4 August 201315 November 20139R. Banumathi16 November 201312 August 2014--Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel13 August 201431 October 201410Virender Singh1 November 20146 October 2016--Pradip Kumar Mohanty7 October 201623 March 201711Pradip Kumar Mohanty24 March 20179 June 2017--Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel10 June 201710 August 201812Aniruddha Bose11 August 201823 May 2019--Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel24 May 20196 June 2019--Prashant Kumar7 June 201930 August 2019--Harish Chandra Mishra30 August 201916 November 201913Ravi Ranjan17 November 201919 December 2022--Aparesh Kumar Singh20 December 202219 February 202314Sanjaya Kumar Mishra20 February 202328 December 2023--Shree Chandrashekhar29 December 20234 July 202415Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi5 July 202419 July 2024--Sujit Narayan Prasad20 July 202424 September 202416M. S. Ramachandra Rao25 September 202421 July 2025--Sujit Narayan Prasad22 July 202522 July 202517Tarlok Singh Chauhan23 July 20258 January 202618M. S. Sonak9 January 2026Incumbent
Judges elevated as Chief Justices
This sections contains list of only those judges elevated as chief justices whose parent high court is Jharkhand. This includes those judges who, at the time of appointment as chief justice, may not be serving in Jharkhand High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of appointment as chief justice were serving in Jharkhand High Court but does not have Jharkhand 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 JudgeMokhtarajama Yusuf EqbalMadrasRakesh Ranjan PrasadManipurAparesh Kumar SinghTripura, transferred to TelanganaShree ChandrashekharBombay
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..M. Y. EqbalJharkhand --Elevated as CJ of MadrasR. R. PrasadManipurBecame permanentPrashant KumarJharkhandDied in officeH. C. MishraJharkhand --A. K. SinghJharkhandShree ChandrashekharJharkhandTransferred to RajasthanBombayBecame permanentSujit Narayan PrasadJharkhandIncumbent --
Judges elevated to Supreme Court This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Jharkhand. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Jharkhand High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Jharkhand High Court but does not have Jharkhand as their Parent High Court.
Colour Key
Symbol 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 tenure1Mokhtarajama Yusuf Eqbal36th CJ of Madras HC2Shree ChandrashekharIncumbent49th CJ of Bombay HC3Aparesh Kumar Singh7th CJ of Telangana HC
Judges of Jharkhand High Court who served as Chief Justice of India +CJIs whose Parent High Court was not Jharkhand but they served in Jharkhand#Name of the Chief JusticeImageDate of Appointment as Chief JusticeDate of RetirementTenureAppointed ByDate of elevation to Supreme Court
Nominated by Total tenure in Supreme Court (including as CJI)Tenure in Jharkhand High CourtImmediately preceding office1Altamas Kabir29 September 201218 July 2013293 daysPranab MukherjeeRamesh Chandra Lahoti7 years, 314 days()Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court
References
Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts Judge strength in High Courts increased
External links The Jharkhand High Court website