The Uttarakhand High Court is the High Court of the state of Uttarakhand in India. The Uttarakhand High Court was established on 9 November 2000 after the separation of the state of Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh.

The sanctioned judge strength at the time of creation in 2000 was 7; this was increased to 9 in 2003. Justice Ashok Desai was the inaugural holder of the office. Former Chief Justices of Uttarakhand Sarosh Homi Kapadia and Jagdish Singh Khehar later went on to become Chief Justice of India.

History The Uttarakhand High Court is a relatively new addition to India's judiciary system. The building of Uttarakhand High Court was constructed by Santoni MacDonald in 1900.

Uttarakhand was carved out from the state of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000 under the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000. The High Court of Uttarakhand was also established on the same day.

The Uttarakhand High Court is located in Nainital, a scenic hill station in the Kumaon region of the state.

The High Court initially consisted of just five court rooms but later more court rooms were added. A huge Chief Justice Court Block and a Block of Lawyers’ chambers were built in 2007.

Landmark judgements Status of rivers as legal persons

In March 2017, Uttarakhand High Court's single-judge bench presided by Justice Rajeev Sharma, mandated that the rivers Ganges and Yamuna as well as all water bodies are "living entities" i.e. "legal person", and appointed 3 persons as trustees to protect the rights of rivers against the pollution caused by the humans.Birds to holy rivers: A list of everything India considers “legal persons”, Quartz, September 2019.

Rohit Sagar v. State of Uttarakhand

Rohit Sagar v. State of Uttarakhand (2021) is a case where Uttarakhand High Court's two-judges bench presided by Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Narayan Singh Dhanik, held that the legal adults have the fundamental right to choose their own partners, and directed the Uttarakhand Police to provide necessary protection for the individuals and their property.

List of sitting judges of the Uttarakhand High Court

There are currently eight sitting judges including the Chief Justice, with post of one permanent and two additional judge lying vacant.Sitting judges of the Uttarakhand High Court Following is the list of the current serving judges of the Uttarakhand High Court, ordered by seniority.

No. Name Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Type of Vacancy Parent High Court Permanent Judges 1 Manoj Kumar Gupta (Chief Justice) 10 January 2026 8 October 2026 Bar Allahabad 2 Manoj Kumar Tiwari (Senior Judge) 19 May 2017 18 September 2027 Uttarakhand 3 Ravindra Maithani 3 December 2018 24 June 2027 Bench 4 Rakesh Thapliyal 28 April 2023 14 November 2031Bar 5 Pankaj Purohit 27 July 2030 6 Alok Mahra 14 February 2025 31 January 2034 7 Subhash Upadhyay30 May 202511 December 20348Siddharth Sah8 January 20263 September 20339 Vacant Additional Judges 10 Vacant 11

Registrar General Yogesh Kumar Gupta is the current Registrar General of the Uttarakhand High Court. He assumed office on 6 June 2025. Uttarakhand High Court The Uttarakhand High Court was established on under Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 and has had 14 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

For Acting chief justices

#NamePortraitDate of AppointmentDate of RetirementTenureParent High CourtDate of initial Appointment1Ashok DesaiBombay2Sarosh Homi KapadiaBombay3Vikas Sridhar SirpurkarBombay4Cyriac JosephKerala5Rajeev GuptaMadhya Pradesh6Vinod Kumar GuptaJammu & Kashmir7Jagdish Singh KheharPunjab & Haryana8Barin GhoshCalcutta9Kuttiyil Mathew JosephKerala10Ramesh RanganathanAndhra Pradesh11Raghvendra Singh ChauhanRajasthan12Vipin SanghiDelhi13Ritu BahriPunjab & Haryana14Guhanathan NarendarKarnataka

Uttarakhand High Court The Uttarakhand High Court was established on under Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 with Ashok Desai as its inaugural acting chief justice.

For Permanent chief justices

NameImageFrom(Reason)To(Reason)TenureParent High CourtDate of initial AppointmentAshok Desai(Creation of New HC)(Became permanent)BombayPrakash Chandra Verma(Resignation of CJ Ashok Desai)(Appointment of S. H. Kapadia as new CJ)Allahabad(Elevation of CJ S. H. Kapadia to SCI)(Appointment of V. S. Sirpurkar as new CJ)(Transfer of CJ Cyriac Joseph to Karnataka)(Appointment of Rajeev Gupta as new CJ)B. C. Kandapal(Retirement of CJ V. K. Gupta)(Transfer of Tarun Agarwala as ACJ)UttarakhandTarun Agarwala(Transferred as ACJ)(Appointment of J. S. Khehar as new CJ)AllahabadV. K. Bist(Retirement of CJ Barin Ghosh)(Appointment of K. M. Joseph as new CJ)UttarakhandRajeev Sharma(Elevation of CJ K. M. Joseph to SCI)(Appointment of R. Ranganathan as new CJ)Himachal PradeshRavi Malimath(Retirement of CJ R. Ranganathan)(Appointment of R. S. Chauhan as new CJ)KarnatakaS. K. Mishra(Retirement of CJ R. S. Chauhan)(Appointment of Vipin Sanghi as new CJ)OrissaM. K. Tiwari(Retirement of CJ Vipin Sanghi)(Appointment of Ritu Bahri as new CJ)Uttarakhand(Retirement of CJ Ritu Bahri)(Appointment of G. Narendar as new CJ)

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

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 JudgeRef..B. C. KandapalUttarakhandV. K. BistUttarakhandM. K. TiwariUttarakhandIncumbent

Judges elevated to Supreme Court This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Uttarakhand. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Uttarakhand High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Uttarakhand High Court but does not have Uttarakhand 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 tenure1Prafulla Chandra Pant2nd CJ of Meghalaya HC2Sudhanshu Dhulia39th CJ of Gauhati HC

See also Chief Justice of Uttarakhand List of judges of the Uttarakhand High Court High courts of India List of sitting judges of the high courts of India Supreme Court of India List of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India Bar Council of Uttarakhand District Courts of India Nyaya panchayat Uttarakhand Lok Adalat Uttarakhand Lokayukta Judiciary of India

References

External links The High Court of Uttarakhand, official website Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts Judge strength in High Courts increased High Court of Uttarakhand