The Madhya Pradesh High Court is the High Court of the state of Madhya Pradesh which is located in Jabalpur. It was established as the Nagpur High Court on 2 January 1936 by Letters Patent dated 2 January 1936, issued under Section 108 the Government of India Act, 1935. This Letters Patent continued in force even after the adoption of the constitution of India on 26 January 1950 by virtue of Articles 225 & 372 thereof. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 53.

History The present state of Madhya Pradesh was originally created as Central Provinces in the 19th century, as Judicial Commission's territory and was administered by the Judicial Commissioner. The Judicial Commissioner's court at Nagpur was, at that time, the highest court of the territory. It was converted into a Governor's province in 1921, when it became entitled to a full-fledged High Court for the administration of justice.

Later, Berar, a part of Nizam's state of Hyderabad, was transferred in 1933 to the Central Province, for administration. This gave the state its new name Central Provinces and Berar. Thereafter, by virtue of Letters Patent dated 2 January 1936, issued under Section 108 of the Government of India Act, 1935, by King Emperor, George the Fifth, the Nagpur High Court was established for Central Pronvices and Berar. This Letters Patent, under which the Nagpur High Court was constituted and invested with jurisdiction, continued to remain in force even after the adoption of the constitution of India on 26 January 1950, by virtue of Articles 225 & 372 thereof.

On 1 November 1956, the new state of Madhya Pradesh was constituted under States Reorganisation Act. Subsection (1) of Section 49 of the States Re-organisation Act ordained that from the appointed day i.e., 1 November 1956, the High Court exercising jurisdiction, in relation to the existing state of Madhya Pradesh, i.e. Nagpur High Court, shall be deemed to be the High Court for the present state of Madhya Pradesh. Thus Nagpur High Court was not abolished but by a legal fiction it became High Court for the new state of Madhya Pradesh with its seat at Jabalpur. Hon'ble the Chief Justice, vide order dated 1 November 1956 constituted temporary benches of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Indore and Gwalior. Later, by a Presidential Notification Dt. 28 November 1968, issued in the exercise of the powers conferred by the Subsection (2) of section 51 of the States Reorganization Act, 1956, permanent benches of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Indore and Gwalior were established. This state of affairs continued till 1 November 2000, when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved of the existing state of Madhya Pradesh by virtue of the provisions of the Madhya Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2000 and the High Court of Chhattisgarh was established for that state with its seat at Bilaspur. The High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur then became High Court for the successor state of Madhya Pradesh.

Principal seat & Benches The principal seat of the court is in Jabalpur. The court is housed in an impressive building constructed by Raja Gokul Das in 1899. The building was designed by Henry Irwin in 1886. The construction work of this building was commenced in 1886 and completed in 1889. The building was constructed in brick-lime with ornamental towers and cornices. The architecture of the building is mixed baroque and oriental. The arches, as well as the bastions at the corners, are ornamental. There are 25 courtrooms in this building.

On 1 November 1956, two temporary benches of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh were constituted, one at Indore and the other at Gwalior. Later by a Notification, these were converted to permanent benches on 28 November 1968.

Chief Justice and Judges

The current sitting judges of the court are as follows:

Former Chief Justices

Nagpur High Court #Chief JusticeTerm 1Gilbert Stone9 January 1936 – 19432Frederick Louis Grille1943 – 19493Vivian Bose1949 – 19514Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha24 February 1951 – 2 December 19545M. Hidayatullah3 December 1954 – 31 October 1956

Madhya Pradesh High Court # Chief Justice TenureStartFinish1M. Hidayatullah 1 November 195630 November 19582Ganesh Prasad Bhutt 13 December 195812 September 19593P. V. Dixit 22 September 195918 March 19694Bishambhar Dayal 19 March 196913 September 19725P. K. Tare 14 September 197210 October 19756Shiv Dayal Shrivastava11 October 197527 February 19787Ananda Prakash Sen 28 February 197816 July 19788G. P. Singh 27 July 19783 January 19849Goverdhanlal Jamnalal Oza 1 December 198428 October 198510J. S. Verma14 June 198631 August 198611Narayan Dutt Ojha 8 January 198717 January 198812G. G. Sohani 20 October 198923 October 198913Sushil Kumar Jha 27 October 198915 December 199314Ullal Lakshminarayan Bhat 15 December 199313 October 199515A. K. Mathur 3 February 199621 December 199916Bhawani Singh 24 February 200024 August 200317Kumar Rajarathnam 6 September 200312 March 200418R. V. Raveendran 8 July 20048 September 200519A. K. Patnaik 2 October 200516 November 200920Syed Rafat Alam 20 December 20094 August 201121Sharad Arvind Bobde 16 October 201211 April 201322Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar 24 November 201312 May 201623Hemant Gupta 18 March 20171 November 201824Sanjay Kumar Seth14 November 2018 9 June 201925Ajay Kumar Mittal3 November 201929 September 202026Mohammad Rafiq3 January 202113 October 202127Ravi Malimath14 October 202124 May 202428Suresh Kumar Kait25 September 202423 May 202529Sanjeev Sachdeva17 July 20251 June 2026

Judges elevated as Chief Justices

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

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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 JudgePrabhakar Keshava TareMadhya PradeshShivdayal ShrivastavaMadhya PradeshAnanda Prakash SenMadhya PradeshGuru Prasanna SinghMadhya PradeshGoverdhan Lal OzaMadhya PradeshJagdish Sharan VermaMadhya Pradesh, transferred to RajasthanGangadhar Ganesh SohaniMadhya Pradesh, transferred to PatnaBipin Chandra VermaPunjab & HaryanaShashi Kant SethHimachal PradeshGulab Chand GuptaHimachal PradeshKrishna Murari AgarwalSikkimBrij Mohan LalPatnaDevdatta Madhav DharmadhikariGujaratPrakash Prabhakar NaolekarGauhatiRajiv GuptaKerala, transferred to Uttarakhand then to ChhattisgarhRamesh Surajmal GargGauhatiDeepak VermaRajasthanArun Kumar MishraRajasthan, transferred to CalcuttaAbhay Manohar SapreManipur, transferred to GauhatiUma Nath SinghMeghalayaAjit SinghGauhatiRajendra MenonPatna, transferred to DelhiSanjay Kumar SethMadhya PradeshRavi Shankar JhaPunjab & HaryanaJitendra Kumar MaheshwariAndhra Pradesh, transferred to SikkimSanjay YadavAllahabadSatish Chandra SharmaTelangana, transferred to DelhiPrakash ShrivastavaCalcuttaAlok AradheTelangana, transferred to BombaySheel NaguPunjab & HaryanaSujoy PaulCalcuttaSushrut Arvind DharmadhikariMadrasIncumbent

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..A. P. SenRajasthanElevated as CJ of Madhya PradeshG. P. SinghMadhya PradeshBecame permanentG. L. OzaMadhya PradeshJ. S. VermaMadhya PradeshBecame permanentG. G. SohaniMadhya Pradesh --Became permanentVirendra Dutta GyaniGauhati --Retired as ACJV. S. KokjeRajasthan --Rajiv GuptaMadhya PradeshFakhruddinChhattisgarhR. S. GargChhattisgarhMadhya PradeshDeepak VermaMadhya PradeshKarnatakaA. K. MishraRajasthanBecame permanentA. M. SapreChhattisgarh --Krishn Kumar LahotiMadhya PradeshU. N. SinghMeghalayaBecame permanentAjit SinghRajasthanElevated as CJ of GauhatiRajendra MenonMadhya PradeshElevated as CJ of PatnaS. K. SethMadhya Pradesh --Became permanentR. S. JhaMadhya PradeshElevated as CJ of Punjab & HaryanaSanjay YadavMadhya Pradesh --Transferred to AllahabadAllahabadBecame permanentS. C. SharmaKarnatakaElevated as CJ of TelanganaAlok AradheJammu & Kashmir --KarnatakaSheel NaguMadhya PradeshElevated as CJ of Punjab & HaryanaSujoy PaulTelanganaTransferred to CalcuttaCalcuttaBecame permanentVivek RusiaMadhya PradeshIncumbent --

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

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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 tenure1Ananda Prakash Sen7th CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC2Goverdhan Lal Oza9th CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC3J. S. Verma16th CJ of Rajasthan HC4FaizanuddinJudge of Madhya Pradesh HC5Ramesh Chandra LahotiJudge of Delhi HC6Devdatta Madhav Dharmadhikari17th CJ of Gujarat HC7Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar28th CJ of Gauhati HC8Deepak Verma28th CJ of Rajasthan HC9Arun Kumar Mishra36th CJ of Calcutta HC10Abhay Manohar Sapre33rd CJ of Gauhati HC11Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari22nd CJ of Sikkim HC12Satish Chandra SharmaIncumbent32nd CJ of Delhi HC13Alok Aradhe48th CJ of Bombay HC14Sheel Nagu36th CJ of Punjab & Haryana HC

Judges from erstwhile Nagpur High Court

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

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Symbol Key Elevated to Supreme Court of India Resigned Died in office NameImageAppointed as CJ in HC ofDate of appointmentDate of retirementTenureRef..As JudgeAs Chief JusticeAs Chief JusticeAs JudgeVivian BoseNagpurMohammad HidayatullahNagpur, transferred to Madhya PradeshGanesh Prasad BhuttMadhya Pradesh Yeshwant Shripad TambeBombaySohrab Peshotan KotvalBombay

Elevated to Supreme Court This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Nagpur. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Nagpur High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Nagpur High Court but does not have Nagpur 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 tenure1Vivian BoseCJ in same High Court2Mohammad Hidayatullah1st CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC3Janardan Raghunath MudholkarJudge of Bombay HC

See also High Courts of India

Notes

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

External links Madhya Pradesh High Court website.