Madhya Pradesh High Court

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Madhya Pradesh High Court
मध्य प्रदेश उच्च न्यायालय
MP HIGH COURT JABALPUR - panoramio.jpg
Panoramic view of the Court building
Madhya Pradesh High Court
23°9′38″N79°56′19″E / 23.16056°N 79.93861°E / 23.16056; 79.93861 [1]
Established2 January 1936; 86 years ago
Jurisdiction Madhya Pradesh
LocationPrincipal Seat: Jabalpur, M.P.
Circuit Benches: Indore and Gwalior
Coordinates 23°9′38″N79°56′19″E / 23.16056°N 79.93861°E / 23.16056; 79.93861 [1]
Composition method Presidential with confirmation of Chief Justice of India and Governor of respective state.
Authorised by Constitution of India
Appeals to Supreme Court of India
Judge term lengthMandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions53
Website http://mphc.gov.in/
Chief Justice
Currently Sanjeev Sachdeva
Since17 July 2025

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.

Contents

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 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. [2] [3]

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 corner are ornamental. There are 25 court rooms in this building. Madhya Pradesh High Court Official.jpg 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.

Former Chief Justices

Nagpur High Court

#Chief JusticeTerm
1 Gilbert Stone 9 January 1936 – 1943
2Frederick Louis Grille1943 – 1951
3 Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha 24 February 1951 – 2 December 1954
4 M. Hidayatullah 3 December 1954 – 31 October 1956

Madhya Pradesh High Court

#Chief JusticeTenure
StartFinish
1 M. Hidayatullah 1 November 195612 December 1958
2 Ganesh Prasad Bhutt 13 December 195822 September 1959
3 P. V. Dixit 22 September 195918 March 1969
4 Bishambhar Dayal 19 March 196913 March 1972
5 P. K. Tare 14 September 197210 October 1975
6 Shiv Dayal Shrivastava 11 October 197528 February 1978
7 A. P. Sen 28 February 197814 July 1978
8 G. P. Singh 27 July 19783 January 1984
9 Goverdhanlal Jamnalal Oza 1 December 198427 October 1985
10 J. S. Verma 14 June 198627 August 1986
11 Narayan Dutt Ojha 8 October 198618 January 1988
12 G. G. Sohani 21 October 198923 October 1989
13 Sushil Kumar Jha 27 October 198915 December 1993
14 Ullal Lakshminarayan Bhat 15 December 199310 October 1995
15 A. K. Mathur 3 February 199621 December 1999
16 Bhawani Singh 24 February 200019 August 2003
17 Kumar Rajarathnam 6 September 200312 March 2004
18 R. V. Raveendran 8 July 20048 September 2005
19 A. K. Patnaik 2 October 200516 November 2009
20 Syed Rafat Alam 20 December 20094 August 2011
21 Sharad Arvind Bobde 16 October 201211 April 2013
22 Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar 24 November 201312 May 2016
23 Hemant Gupta 18 March 20171 November 2018
24 Sanjay Kumar Seth 10 November 20189 June 2019
25 Ajay Kumar Mittal 3 November 201929 September 2020
26 Mohammad Rafiq 3 January 202113 October 2021
27 Ravi Malimath 14 October 202124 May 2024
28 Suresh Kumar Kait 25 September 202423 May 2025
29 Sanjeev Sachdeva 17 July 2025incumbent

Judges who served as Chief Justice of India

CJIs whose Parent High Court was Madhya Pradesh
#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 Madhya Pradesh High CourtOffice at the time of elevation to Supreme CourtRemarks
1 Jagdish Sharan Verma
Justice J.S. Verma.jpg
25 March 199717 January 1998298 days Shankar Dayal Sharma 3 June 1989

Raghunandan Swarup Pathak

8 years, 228 days12 September 1972 13 June 1986
(13 years, 274 days)
16th Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court 27th Chief Justice of India
2 Ramesh Chandra Lahoti
Justice R.C. Lahoti.jpg
1 June 200431 October 20051 year, 152 days A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 9 December 1998

Adarsh Sein Anand

6 years, 326 days3 May 1988 6 February 1994
(5 years, 279 days)
Judge of Delhi High Court 35th Chief Justice of India
CJIs whose Parent High Court was not Madhya Pradesh but they served in Madhya Pradesh High Court
#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 Madhya Pradesh High CourtOffice at the time of elevation to Supreme CourtDate of initial appointment as Judge
Parent High Court
Remarks
1 Dipak Misra
Justice Dipak Misra.jpg
28 August 20172 October 20181 year, 35 days Ram Nath Kovind 10 October 2011

Sarosh Homi Kapadia

6 years, 357 days3 March 1997 22 December 2009
(12 years, 294 days)
25th Chief Justice of Delhi High Court 17 January 1996

Orissa

45th Chief Justice of India

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Latitude and Longitude". satsig.com. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  2. "History & Constitution | High Court of Madhya Pradesh". mphc.gov.in. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  3. "High Court Of Bombay-Nagpur Bench | Official Website of e-Committee, Supreme Court of India | India" . Retrieved 29 July 2025.

References