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Bombay High Court at Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, is one of the oldest
High Courts of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra
and Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar
Haveli. The High Court has regional branches at Nagpur and Aurangabad in
Maharashtra and Panaji, Goa.
The court is one of the most distinguished high courts in the country.
The first Chief Justice, the Attorney General and Solicitor General of
Independent India were from this court. Since India's Independence, 22
judges from this court have been elevated to the Supreme Court and 8 of
them have been Chief Justice of India. |
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The court has Original Jurisdiction in addition to its Appellate. The
decisions of this court can be appealed only to the Supreme Court of
India. The Bombay High Court has the sanctioned strength of 75 judges.
History and Premises
The Bombay High Court was inaugurated on 14 August 1862. Although the
name of the city was changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995, the Court as
an institution did not follow suit and remained as the Bombay High
Court. The work on the present building of the High Court was commenced
in April 1871 and completed in November 1878. It was designed by British
engineer Col. J.A. Fuller. The first sitting in this building was on 10
January 1879. Architecture: Gothic revival in the Early English style.
It is 562 feet (171 m) long and 187 feet (57 m) wide. To the west of the
central tower are two octagonal towers. The statues of Justice and Mercy
are atop this building. The 125th anniversary of the building is slated
to be marked by the release of a book, commissioned by the Bar
Association, called "The Bombay High Court: The Story of the Building -
1878–2003" by local historians Rahul Mehrotra and Sharada Dwivedi.
Sesquicentennial Celebrations
The High Court organized several functions in 2012 to mark completion of
150 years of establishment of the High Court. A special postal cover was
released by Shri Milind Deora, Minister of State for Communications and
Information Technology at the historical Central Court Hall, High Court
main building on 14 August 2012.
An exhibition displaying important artifacts, documents and articles of
historical importance was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of
Maharashtra, Mr. Prithviraj Chavan in the Central Court Hall on 15
August 2012. The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh was the Chief Guest
at the concluding ceremony of the year long Sesquicentennial
celebrations on 18 August 2012.
A Bench of the High Court at Bombay began to sit in this building at
Nagpur with effect from 1-11-1956 and continues to do so even after the
formation of the State of Maharashtra on 1-5-1960. During year 1960 the
strength of this Bench consisted of four Honourable Judges.
The extension of High Court building consists of two annex buildings on
both sides of the existing building viz., North and South Wings. For
this Government of Maharashtra has sanctioned Rs.1,29,26,605/- on dated
21 March 1983. 'South Wing' houses various utilities for public, i.e.
litigants and the Bar as well as High Court Government Pleader's
Establishment including Standing Coursel for Central Government and `A
Panel Counsels, and also for the establishment. In the North Wing, it is
proposed to accommodate additional Court Halls, Chambers of the Hobble
Judges, Judges' Library and the office.
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