Punjab and Haryana High Court is the common High Court for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh based in Chandigarh, India. Sanctioned strength of judges of this High Court is, 85 consisting of 64 Permanent Judges, including the Chief Justice, and 21 Additional Judges. As of 14 September 2023, there are 58 Judges working in the High Court, comprising 36 Permanent and 22 Additional Judges.
The court building is known as the Palace of Justice. Designed by Le Corbusier, it and several of his other works were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in July 2016.
Sarv Mittra Sikri, who had been practising in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and remained Advocate-General for Punjab from 1 November 1956 to 2 February 1964, was the first to be appointed as judge of the Supreme Court of India on 3 February 1964 directly from the Bar; later, becoming the Chief Justice of India on 22 January 1971, again with the distinction of being first of only two CJIs directly from the Bar.
Past judges include Madan Mohan Punchhi, P. Sathasivam, Tirath Singh Thakur, Jagdish Singh Khehar, Ranjan Gogoi and Surya Kant who were elevated to the Supreme Court of India and became Chief Justice of India.
History
Formation
Punjab and Haryana High Court was formerly known as Lahore High Court, which was established on 21 March 1919. The jurisdiction of that court covered undivided Punjab and Delhi. From 1920 to 1943, the Court was conferred with extraterritorial jurisdiction over that part of China that formed part of the British consular district of Kashgar, which had previously been under the jurisdiction of the British Supreme Court for China. This ceased upon the ratification of the British-Chinese Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China.
Independence-induced split
Following the independence of India and its Partition at midnight on 14–15 August 1947, a separate High Court of East Punjab was created by the Governor General's High Courts (Punjab) Order, 1947 issued under Section 9 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, based at historic Peterhoff building in Shimla for the territories as included in the then Province of East Punjab and the then Province of Delhi. This had jurisdiction over the erstwhile territories of Patiala and East Punjab States Union and the East Punjab Province, which now covers areas of Indian Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. It was at Peterhoff where the trial of Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, took place in 1948–49.
On introduction of the Constitution of India on 26 January 1950, the State of East Punjab came to be known as the Punjab and accordingly, the name of the High Court was also changed as High Court of Punjab. Simultaneously, Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), which was created by uniting eight princely states on 15 July 1948, was also made a Part 'B' State with a separate High Court of Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU). As per Article 214(2) of the Constitution of India, the High Court was to be continued along with other High Courts.
From 17 January 1955, the Court was moved to its present location in Chandigarh.
By States Reorganisation Act, 1956, Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) was merged in the State of Punjab on 1 November 1956. The Judges of the High Court of Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) became Judges of the Punjab High Court. The strength of High Court of Punjab, which had originally 8 Judges, rose to 13.
Renaming and reduction of jurisdiction
The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 paved the way for the formation of Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh from 1 November 1966. Those formations also saw the renaming of the High Court of Punjab as the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The Judges of the High Court of Punjab became Judges of the common High Court with all the powers and jurisdiction of the High Court of Punjab. However, the principal seat of the High Court remained at Chandigarh. Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh has original as well as appellate and supervisory jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to Chandigarh (a Union Territory and also capital of Punjab and Haryana), Punjab and Haryana. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana has operated since 1 November 1966 in its present form.
A Circuit Bench of the High Court of Punjab had been working at Delhi since 1952, which was replaced by constituting a separate High Court for the Union Territory of Delhi on 31 October 1966 under the Delhi High Court Act, 1966. Three Judges of the Punjab High Court were transferred to the Delhi High Court, which includes a famous Judge-Hans Raj Khanna.
Following area of State of Punjab namely Shimla, Kangra, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti Districts; Nalagarh tehsil of Ambala District; Lohara, Amb and Una kanungo circles, some area of Santokhgarh kanungo circle and some other specified area of Una tehsil of Hoshiarpur District besides some parts of Dhar Kalan Kanungo circle of Pathankot tehsil of Gurdaspur District; were merged with Himachal Pradesh on 1 November 1966 as per Section 5 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 and thus the jurisdiction of the High Court was reduced.[citation needed]
On 30 April 2022, at a joint meeting of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts, Punjab and Haryana proposed the establishment of separate high courts for each state. Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar proposed a High Court of Haryana in Chandigarh, and Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann proposed a High Court of Punjab in New Chandigarh. The Haryana Legislative Assembly had issued resolutions for a separate high court in 2002, 2005, and 2017.
Chandigarh court building architecture
Le Corbusier, who designed the master plan for Chandigarh, was chosen to execute the project of building the high court. India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, enthusiastically supported the project and took a sustained interest in its execution. When he visited the project on 2 April 1952, he declared "Let this be a new town symbolic of the freedom of India, unfettered by the traditions of the past, an expression of the nation's faith in the future."[citation needed]
List of chief justices
- Legends:
- ACJ – Acting Chief Justice
- Res – Resigned
List of Chief Justices.
List
| # | Picture | Chief Justice | Took office | Left office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Court of the Punjab (1880–1919) | ||||||
| 1 | Sir Henry Meredyth Plowden | 1880 | 1895 | |||
| 2 | Sir Charles Arthur Roe | 1895 | 1898 | |||
| 3 | Sir William Ovens Clark | 1898 | 1909 | |||
| 4 | Sir Arthur Hay Stewart Reid | 1909 | 1914 | |||
| 5 | Sir Alfred Kensington | 1914 | 1915 | |||
| 6 | Sir Donald Campbell Johnstone | 1915 | 1917 | |||
| 7 | Sir Henry Adolphus Rattigan | 1917 | 1919 | |||
| Lahore High Court (1920–1947) | ||||||
| 8 | Sir Shadi Lal | 1920 | 1934 | |||
| 9 | Sir John Douglas Young | 1934 | 1943 | |||
| 10 | Sir Arthur Trevor Harries | 1943 | 1946 | |||
| 11 | Sir Abdul Rashid | 1946 | 1947 | |||
List
| Chief Justices of Punjab High Court (1947–1966) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Picture | Name | Tenure | Oath Administered by | |
| 12 | Justice Ram Lall | 15 August 1947 | 18 January 1949 | Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi | |
| 13 | Justice Sudhi Ranjan Das | 19 January 1949 | 21 January 1950 | ||
| 14 | Justice Eric Weston | 21 January 1950 | 8 December 1952 | ||
| 15 | Justice Amar Nath Bandhari | 9 December 1952 | 18 November 1959 | ||
| 16 | Justice Gopal Das Ghosla | 19 November 1959 | 14 December 1961 | Narhar Vishnu Gadgil | |
| 17 | Justice Donald Falshaw | 15 December 1961 | 29 May 1966 (Res) | ||
| 18 | Justice Mehar Singh | 29 May 1966 | continued | Ujjal Singh | |
| Chief Justices of Punjab and Haryana High Court (1966-till now) | |||||
| 18 | Justice Mehar Singh | continued | 14 August 1970 | – | |
| 19 | Justice Harbans Singh | 15 August 1970 | 8 April 1974 | D. C. Pavate | |
| 20 | Justice Daya Krishan Mahajan | 10 April 1974 | 11 May 1974 | Mahendra Mohan Choudhry | |
| 21 | Justice Ranjit Singh Narula | 11 May 1974 | 31 November 1977 (Res) | ||
| 22 | Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy (on appointment of R. S. Narula as acting Governor of Punjab) | 28 June 1976 | 23 October 1976 | ||
| 23 | Justice Anand Dev Koshal | 1 November 1977 | 17 July 1978 | Ranjit Singh Narula | |
| 24 | Justice Surjit Singh Sandhawalia | 17 July 1978 | 28 November 1983 | Jaisukh lal Hathi | |
| 25 | Justice Prem Chand Jain | 28 November 1983 | 31 July 1985 | Bhairab Dutt Pande | |
| 1 August 1985 | 18 August 1986 | Arjun Singh | |||
| 26 | Justice Hariday Nath Seth | 18 August 1986 | 14 October 1987 | Siddhartha Shankar Ray | |
| 27 | Justice Debi Singh Tewatia | 15 October 1987 | 29 October 1987 | ||
| 28 | Justice R. N. Mittal | 30 October 1987 | 11 November 1987 | ||
| 29 | Justice Veeraswami Ramaswamy | 12 November 1987 | 6 October 1989 | ||
| 30 | Justice Shanti Sarup Dewan | 6 October 1989 | 23 October 1989 | ||
| 24 October 1989 | 31 December 1989 | ||||
| Justice Jitendra Vir Gupta | 1 January 1990 | 8 July 1990 | Nirmal Mukarji | ||
| 31 | 9 July 1990 | 1 May 1991 (Res) | Virendra Verma | ||
| 32 | Justice Gokal Chand Mital | 19 May 1991 | 4 August 1991 | Om Prakash Malhotra | |
| 33 | Justice Iqbal Singh Tiwana | 5 August 1991 | 19 September 1991 | ||
| 34 | Justice Bipin Chandra Verma | 19 September 1991 | 2 May 1992 | Surendra Nath | |
| 35 | Justice Mandagadde Rama Jois | 3 May 1992 | 31 August 1992 | ||
| 36 | Justice S. S. Sodhi | 1 September 1992 | 12 November 1992 | ||
| 37 | Justice Sudarshan Dayal Agarwal | 13 November 1992 | 14 January 1994 | ||
| 38 | Justice Sudhakar Panditrao Kurdukar | 16 January 1994 | 27 March 1996 | ||
| 39 | Justice M. S. Liberhan (on appointment of S. P. Kurdukar as acting Governor of Punjab) | 10 July 1994 | 16 August 1994 | ||
| 40 | Justice R. P. Sethi | 16 August 1994 (on appointment of S. P. Kurdukar as acting Governor of Punjab) | 18 September 1994 | Sudhakar Panditrao Kurdukar | |
| 27 March 1996 | 27 June 1996 | B. K. N. Chhibber | |||
| 41 | Justice M. S. Liberhan | 27 June 1996 | 30 July 1996 | ||
| 42 | Justice K. Sreedharan | 30 July 1996 | 18 October 1997 | ||
| 43 | Justice Amarjeet Chaudhary | 18 October 1997 | 7 November 1997 | ||
| 45 | Justice A. B. Saharya | 7 November 1997 | 14 September 2002 | ||
| 46 | Justice G. S. Singhvi | 28 January 2002 | 17 April 2002 | J. F. R. Jacob | |
| 5 August 2002 | 11 August 2002 | ||||
| 2 September 2002 | 8 September 2002 | ||||
| 14 September 2002 | 14 October 2002 | ||||
| 47 | Justice Binod Kumar Roy | 14 October 2002 | 21 February 2005 | ||
| 48 | Justice G. S. Singhvi | 21 February 2005 | 25 February 2005 | Sunith Francis Rodrigues | |
| 49 | Justice H. S. Bedi | 26 February 2005 | 11 March 2005 | ||
| 50 | Justice D. K. Jain | 11 March 2005 | 9 April 2006 | ||
| 51 | Justice H. S. Bedi | 10 April 2006 | 2 October 2006 | ||
| 52 | Justice S. S. Nijjar | 3 October 2006 | 28 November 2006 | ||
| 53 | Justice Vijender Jain | 28 November 2006 | 1 August 2008 | ||
| 54 | Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar | 2 August 2008 | 11 August 2008 | ||
| 55 | Justice Tirath Singh Thakur | 11 August 2008 | 16 November 2009 | ||
| 56 | Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar | 17 November 2009 | 29 November 2009 | ||
| 57 | Justice Mehtab Singh Gill | 29 November 2009 | 5 December 2009 | ||
| 58 | Justice Mukul Mudgal | 5 December 2009 | 3 January 2011 | ||
| 59 | Justice Ranjan Gogoi | 4 January 2011 | 11 February 2011 | Shivraj Patil | |
| 12 February 2011 | 22 April 2012 | ||||
| 60 | Justice Adrash Kumar Goel (during leave of Ranjan Gogoi) | 2 February 2011 | 11 September 2011 | ||
| 61 | Justice M. M. Kumar | 12 September 2011 (during leave of Ranjan Gogoi) | 9 November 2011 | ||
| 23 April 2012 | 8 June 2012 | ||||
| 62 | Justice Jasbir Singh | 8 June 2012 | 23 September 2012 | ||
| 63 | Justice A. K. Sikri | 23 September 2012 | 11 April 2013 | ||
| 64 | Justice Jasbir Singh | 12 April 2013 | 31 May 2013 | ||
| 65 | Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul | 1 June 2013 | 25 July 2014 | ||
| 66 | Justice Ashutosh Mohunta | 26 July 2014 | 15 December 2014 | ||
| 67 | Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar | 15 December 2014 | 6 August 2016 | ||
| 7 August 2016 | 3 May 2018 | Kaptan Singh Solanki | |||
| 68 | Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal | 4 May 2018 | 2 June 2018 | V. P. Singh Badnore | |
| 69 | Justice Krishna Murari | 2 June 2018 | 22 September 2019 | ||
| 70 | Justice Rajiv Sharma | 23 September 2019 | 5 October 2019 | ||
| 71 | Justice Ravi Shankar Jha | 6 October 2019 | 13 October 2023 | ||
| 72 | Justice Ritu Bahri | 14 October 2023 | 3 February 2024 | Banwarilal Purohit | |
| 73 | Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia | 4 February 2024 | 8 July 2024 | ||
| 74 | Justice Sheel Nagu | 9 July 2024 | Incumbent | ||
Judges
Judges elevated to Supreme Court
Currently serving
| # | Name of the Judge | Image | Date of Appointment as Judge | Date of elevation to Supreme Court | Date of Retirement | Tenure | Immediately preceding office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As HC Judge | As Supreme Court Judge | Total tenure (including both SC and HC) | |||||||
| 1 | Surya Kant (The Chief Justice of India) | 9 January 2004 | 24 May 2019 | 9 February 2027 | 15 years, 134 days | 7 years, 262 days | 23 years, 31 days | 23rd CJ of Himachal Pradesh HC | |
| 2 | Rajesh Bindal | 22 March 2006 | 13 February 2023 | 15 April 2026 | 16 years, 327 days | 3 years, 63 days | 20 years, 24 days | 49th CJ of Allahabad HC | |
| 3 | Augustine George Masih | 10 July 2008 | 9 November 2023 | 11 March 2028 | 15 years, 121 days | 4 years, 124 days | 19 years, 245 days | 41st CJ of Rajasthan HC | |
Former Judges
| # | Name of the Judge | Image | Date of Appointment as Judge | Date of elevation to Supreme Court | Date of Retirement | Tenure | Immediately preceding office | Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As HC Judge | As Supreme Court Judge | Total tenure (including both SC and HC) | ||||||||
| 1 | Jeevan Lal Kapur | 6 June 1949 | 14 January 1957 | 12 December 1962 | 7 years, 222 days | 5 years, 333 days | 13 years, 190 days | Judge of Punjab & Haryana HC | ||
| 2 | Amar Nath Grover | 10 October 1957 | 11 February 1968 | 31 May 1973 | 10 years, 124 days | 5 years, 110 days | 15 years, 234 days | Judge of Punjab & Haryana HC | Resigned from office | |
| 3 | Inder Dev Dua | 11 August 1958 | 1 August 1969 | 3 October 1972 | 10 years, 355 days | 3 years, 64 days | 14 years, 54 days | 2nd CJ of Delhi HC | ||
| 4 | Hans Raj Khanna | 7 May 1962 | 22 September 1971 | 11 March 1977 | 9 years, 138 days | 5 years, 171 days | 14 years, 309 days | 3rd CJ of Delhi HC | Resigned from office | |
| 5 | Ranjit Singh Sarkaria | 12 June 1967 | 17 September 1973 | 15 January 1981 | 6 years, 97 days | 7 years, 121 days | 13 years, 218 days | Judge of Punjab & Haryana HC | ||
| 6 | Anand Dev Koshal | 28 May 1968 | 17 July 1978 | 6 March 1982 | 10 years, 50 days | 3 years, 233 days | 13 years, 283 days | 11th CJ of Punjab & Haryana HC | ||
| 7 | Madan Mohan Punchhi | 24 October 1979 | 6 October 1989 | 9 October 1998 | 9 years, 347 days | 9 years, 4 days | 18 years, 351 days | Judge of Punjab & Haryana HC | 28th Chief Justice of India | |
| 8 | Ashok Bhan | 15 June 1990 | 17 August 2001 | 2 October 2008 | 11 years, 63 days | 7 years, 108 days | 18 years, 110 days | Judge of Karnataka HC | ||
| 9 | Harjit Singh Bedi | 15 March 1991 | 12 January 2007 | 4 September 2011 | 15 years, 303 days | 4 years, 236 days | 20 years, 174 days | 36th CJ of Bombay HC | ||
| 10 | Surinder Singh Nijjar | 8 April 1996 | 17 November 2009 | 6 June 2014 | 13 years, 223 days | 4 years, 202 days | 18 years, 60 days | 33rd CJ of Calcutta HC | ||
| 11 | Jagdish Singh Khehar | 8 February 1999 | 13 September 2011 | 27 August 2017 | 12 years, 217 days | 5 years, 349 days | 18 years, 201 days | 25th CJ of Karnataka HC | 44th Chief Justice of India | |
| 12 | Adarsh Kumar Goel | 2 July 2001 | 7 July 2014 | 6 July 2018 | 13 years, 5 days | 4 years, 0 days | 17 years, 5 days | 26th CJ of Orissa HC | ||
| 13 | Hemant Gupta | 2 July 2002 | 2 November 2018 | 16 October 2022 | 16 years, 123 days | 3 years, 349 days | 20 years, 107 days | 23rd CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC | ||
Digitization
Punjab and Haryana high court is high court where entire record of the decision and pending cases have been digitized. Digitized record paved way for many unique applications such as
- Issuance of certified copies directly from digitized records depository as it is digitally signed.
- Availability of records of decided and pending cases for court reference in soft form.
- Facility of inspection of case files in soft copy from DMS(e- inspection).
- To provide paper books to the all e-diary account holders.
- Use of digitized records for the issuance of e- notices by the court.
- Any hard copy of a paper book, if lost, can be reconstructed without any loss of time, if required.
The figures of the work done are as under:
| Digitization Statistics: | Figures |
|---|---|
| Judicial files pages scanned | 14.71 crores |
| paper books scanned | 26.25 lakhs |
| orders scanned | 59.64 lakhs |
| Old copy petitions pages scanned | 10.38 lakhs |
| Pages of administration files scanned | 1.21 crores |
Virtual private network
VPN connection has been provided to honourable judges of high court for accessing DMS for scanned paper books from their camp office or from any other place.
e- diary
e-diary is a feature whereby account holders can manage their own case portfolio and view the cases filed or represented by them. Online status of the case along with interim and final orders/ judgments were made available through e-diary. All identified cases of different departments such as Income tax department, Insurance company, Union of India, Advocates General of Punjab and Haryana are automatically pushed in their online e-diary accounts. In addition to the e-diary system, the state governments are in develop court cases monitoring system(CCMS) through which they will monitor pending cases in the Supreme court of India.
e- filing
Online web based e- filing module is functional for filing cases 24 X 7.e- filed cases expedite issuance of copies of orders, summons and is a step towards paperless court regime. It is made compulsory to file cases on online.
Personal information system
In the house, the software has been developed, which contains personal profile and service record of the judicial officer. Access to relevant information has been given at different levels such as Administrative judge, registrar general, registrar vigilance, district judge and the officer concerned.
Updating information of case after final decision
Decided cases are available on the website of the high court. On many occasions, the final order is reviewed/ modified or challenged by filing into court appeal. Status subsequent to final disposal of the matter is shown and when print out of final order is taken from the website. The printout carries a message showing the up-to-date status of the case.
Precedence setting cases
In a case of cow-smuggling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court while treating animals as the "legal person" mandated that "entire animal kingdom including avian and aquatic" species has a "distinct legal persona with corresponding rights, duties, and liabilities of a living person" and humans are "loco parentis" while laying out the norms for animal welfare, veterinary treatment, fodder and shelter, e.g. animal drawn carriages must not have more than four humans, and load carrying animals must not be loaded beyond the specified limits and those limits must be halved when animals have to carry the load up a slope.
See also
- List of World Heritage Sites in India
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