The Madras High Court was one of the three charter high courts established by the letters patent granted by the English crown on 26 June 1862, and replaced the Supreme Court of Madras, which had exercised jurisdiction over the city since 1817. It is one of the oldest high courts established in India. After the Indian independence, the high court was recognised as one of the appellate authorities as laid down by the Constitution of India adopted on 26 January 1950.
From 1862 to 1892, the High Court functioned in a makeshift building. The primary court complex in Chennai, was officially inaugurated on 12 July 1892, and is one of the largest in the world. The Madurai bench was established on 24 July 2004, and functions from a dedicated court complex in Madurai. The court has a sanctioned strength of 75 judges including the Chief Justice.
History
In the early 18th century, a Major's Court was established in Madras, which administered the English Law for the British settlements.[1] From 1817 to 1862, the Supreme Court of Madras, was the primary court of Madras.[2] In 1861, the British parliament enacted the Indian High Courts Act and the Indian Councils Act, which abolished the existing Supreme Courts and the Sadr Diwani Adalat, and gave power to the English crown to establish High Courts in India.[1] The Madras High Court was one of three charter high courts established by the letters patent granted by the English crown on 26 June 1862, and is one of the oldest high courts established in India.[3][4][5] The order was further modified with the issuance of a fresh letters patent in 1865.[1]
After the Indian independence, the high court was recognised as one of the appellate authorities as laid down by the Constitution of India, which was adopted on 26 January 1950.[3] While the city of Madras was renamed to Chennai in 1996, the court continued to function under the older name. Though the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed a resolution appealing to the union government to rename the court as High Court of Tamil Nadu in 2017, the name has remained the same.[6] The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court was established on 24 July 2004.[3] The Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy, funded by the Government of Tamil Nadu, was established in April 2001 under the aegis of the Madras High Court, to train judicial officers.[7]
The High Court complex (right) and the light house (c.1920)
From 1862 to 1892, the High Court functioned in a building in Periamet, which earlier housed the Supreme Court of Madras and the collector office.[2][10] Construction on the new court complex at George Town began in October 1888.[11] The building was designed in Indo-Saracenic architecture by J. W. Brassington and later expanded under the guidance of Henry Irwin.[11][12] As per the original plan, 11 court halls were planned in the main building at an estimate of ₹0.95 million (equivalent to ₹460millionorUS$5.4million in 2023). Of these 11 court halls, six were meant for the High Court, four for the small causes court and one for the civil court. An additional building to host the lawyers, which was connected to the main building.[11]
The main building of the High CourtThe Madurai bench of the High Court
Located close to the Chennai harbour, the court premises already incorporated a lighthouse, which was raised to a height of 175ft (53m) during the construction of the courthouse.[10] Most of the material for the construction were sourced locally except the steel and ornamental tiles, and local artisans were used for the work.[11] When the construction was completed in 1892, the cost had risen to ₹12.98 million (equivalent to ₹5.0billionorUS$59million in 2023).[11] It was officially inaugurated on 12 July 1892, by Beilby Lawley, then Governor of Madras, who handed over the key to the Chief Justice Arthur Collins.[2][10] It is one of the largest court complexes in the world by area.[13]
During the First World War, the high court building was damaged when SMS Emden, a German light cruiserattacked the port on 22 September 1914.[10] The old lighthouse was closed in the later 20th century after a new lighthouse was added at the southern end of the Marina beach.[10] The complex was subsequently expanded, and the civil and other courts were subsequently shifted to other buildings on the campus, and the main building is exclusively used by the high court.[11][14]
The Madurai bench of the high court consists of a four storied building spread across 22,929m2 (246,810sqft), which houses the offices, and a two storied court building, spread across 15,209m2 (163,710sqft), which hosts 24 court halls, and the judges' chambers.[9]
The court is led by a Chief Justice and has a sanctioned strength of 75 judges including the chief justice.[15][16] The current chief justice is Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, who was appointed in July 2025.[17] The judges of the court are led by orderlies who bear a ceremonial mace made of silver, a practice from the British era, which has been abadnoned in most high courts and the Supreme Court of India.[18]
Publications
The Madras Law Journal was started in 1891, by a group of lawyers from the Madras Bar, based on an idea developed during a meet at S. Subramania Iyer's house. The journal published the judgements of the Madras High Court, along with notes and reviews of books. It is the oldest law journal in India. It was sold to Wadhwa publications in 2006, which was taken over by LexisNexis later.[19] The Law Weekly, started in 1914, also reports the judgments of the high court.[19]
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