Patna High Court

Patna High Court
पटना उच्च न्यायालय
Emblem of the Patna High Court
Interactive map of Patna High Court
25°36′32″N85°7′32″E / 25.60889°N 85.12556°E / 25.60889; 85.12556
Established	9 February 1916;109 years ago (1916-02-09)
Jurisdiction	Bihar
Location	Patna, Bihar, India
Coordinates	25°36′32″N85°7′32″E / 25.60889°N 85.12556°E / 25.60889; 85.12556
Composition method	Presidential assent on advice of the Chief Justice of India with consultation of Governor of Bihar
Authorised by	Constitution of India
Judge term length	mandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions	53
Website	patnahighcourt.gov.in
Chief Justice
Currently	Justice Sudhir Singh
Since	23 October 2025

The Patna High Court of Judicature at Patna (commonly known as Patna High Court) is the High Court of the state of Bihar, India. It was established on 3 February 1916 by the British colonial government and was later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915, making it one of the oldest High Courts of India. ^[1]

The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar. ^{[1] [2]}

History of the court

A 2015 stamp dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Patna High Court

Gate No. 1 of Patna High Court at night

Gate No. 1 of Patna High Court

A proclamation for setting up the court was issued by the governor-general of India on 22 March 1912. The foundation-stone of the High Court Building was laid on 1 December 1913 by Viceroy and Governor-General of India Sir Charles Hardinge of Penshurst. The Patna High Court building on its completion was formally opened by the same viceroy on 3 February 1916. Official work commenced on 1 March 1916. Sir Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier was the first chief justice of the court.

In 1948, the Patna High Court exercised jurisdiction over the territories of the Province of Bihar & Orissa until 26 July 1948, when a separate high court was constituted for Orissa. The Patna High Court opened a circuit bench at Ranchi in 1972. In 1976, the circuit bench of the Patna High Court at Ranchi became a permanent bench. In November 2000, under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000, the circuit bench of the Patna High Court at Ranchi became the Jharkhand High Court. ^[2]

Starting 18 April 2015, the Patna High Court planned a year-long centenary celebration of 100 years of establishment, and the occasion was inaugurated by the president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, and was chaired by the governor of Bihar, Keshari Nath Tripathi; the chief justice of India, H. L. Dattu; and the chief justice of the Patna High Court, L. Narasimha Reddy. ^[2]

Prominent judges of the Patna High Court

• Hon. Ms. Justice Rekha Doshit was the chief justice of the Patna High Court and the first woman to hold this office. ^[3]
• Hon. Sir Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier is the first chief justice of the Patna High Court. ^[4]
• Hon. Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha was the first Indian chief justice of the Patna High Court after independence. ^[4]
• Hon. Mrs. Justice Indu Prabha Singh, the first lady judge of the Patna High Court, holds the distinction of being the first woman judge to hold court at the Patna High Court and its Ranchi Bench. ^[5]
• Hon. Mrs. Justice Gyan Sudha Misra , the second lady judge of the Patna High Court, is the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India from Bihar. ^[5]
• The high court has given two chief justices of India.
  • Hon. Mr. Justice Bhuvneshwar Prasad Sinha , the 6th chief justice of India. ^{[5] [6]}
  • Hon. Mr. Justice Lalit Mohan Sharma , the 24th chief justice of India. ^{[5] [6]}

Judges

The following are serving as the judges of the court. ^[7]

See also: List of sitting judges of High Courts of India § Patna High Court

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	Ahsanuddin Amanullah		20 June 2011	6 February 2023	10 May 2028	11 years, 230 days	5 years, 95 days	16 years, 325 days	Judge of Patna 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	Saiyid Fazl Ali		April 1928	26 January 1950	18 September 1951		1 year, 236 days		Elevated to Federal Court of India on 9 June 1947
2	Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha		19 January 1943	3 December 1954	31 January 1964	11 years, 318 days	9 years, 60 days	21 years, 13 days	CJ of erstwhile Nagpur HC	6th Chief Justice of India
3	Syed Jaffer Imam		25 October 1943	10 January 1955	31 January 1964	11 years, 77 days	9 years, 22 days	20 years, 99 days	10th CJ of Patna HC	Resigned from office
4	Sudhansu Kumar Das		4 November 1944	30 April 1956	2 September 1963	11 years, 178 days	7 years, 126 days	18 years, 303 days	11th CJ of Patna HC
5	Vaidyanathier Ramaswami		28 October 1948	4 January 1965	30 October 1969	16 years, 68 days	4 years, 300 days	21 years, 3 days	12th CJ of Patna HC
6	Nand Lall Untwalia		2 January 1958	3 October 1974	31 July 1980	16 years, 274 days	5 years, 303 days	22 years, 212 days	16th CJ of Patna HC
7	Lalit Mohan Sharma		12 April 1973	5 October 1987	11 February 1993	14 years, 176 days	5 years, 130 days	19 years, 306 days	Judge of Patna HC	24th Chief Justice of India
8	Nagendra Prasad Singh		12 April 1973	15 June 1992	24 December 1996	19 years, 65 days	4 years, 193 days	23 years, 257 days	26th CJ of Calcutta HC
9	Biswanath Agrawal		17 November 1986	19 October 2000	15 October 2009	13 years, 337 days	8 years, 362 days	22 years, 333 days	17th CJ of Orissa HC
10	Bisheshwar Prasad Singh		9 March 1987	14 December 2001	8 July 2007	14 years, 280 days	5 years, 207 days	20 years, 122 days	32nd CJ of Bombay HC
11	Satyabrata Sinha		9 March 1987	3 October 2002	8 August 2009	15 years, 208 days	6 years, 341 days	22 years, 153 days	21st CJ of Delhi HC
12	Aftab Alam		27 July 1990	12 November 2007	18 April 2013	17 years, 108 days	5 years, 158 days	22 years, 266 days	Acting CJ of Jammu & Kashmir HC
13	Chandramauli Kumar Prasad		8 November 1994	8 February 2010	14 July 2014	15 years, 92 days	4 years, 157 days	19 years, 249 days	41st CJ of Allahabad HC
14	Gyan Sudha Misra		16 March 1994	30 April 2010	27 April 2014	16 years, 45 days	3 years, 363 days	20 years, 43 days	6th CJ of Jharkhand HC
15	Sudhanshu Joshi Mukhopadhaya		8 November 1994	13 September 2011	14 March 2015	16 years, 309 days	3 years, 183 days	20 years, 219 days	22nd CJ of Gujarat HC
16	Shiva Kirti Singh		29 December 1998	19 September 2013	11 November 2016	14 years, 264 days	3 years, 54 days	17 years, 319 days	44th CJ of Allahabad HC
17	Navin Sinha		11 February 2004	17 February 2017	18 August 2021	13 years, 6 days	4 years, 183 days	17 years, 189 days	34th CJ of Rajasthan HC

Former chief justices

The following have served as chief justices of the court. ^[4]

Chief justice	From	To	Comments
Hon. Vipul Manubhai Pancholi	21 July 2025	28 August 2025	Transferred from Gujarat High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India
Hon. Krishnan Vinod Chandran	27 March 2023	15 January 2025	Transferred from Kerala High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India
Hon. Sanjay Karol	11 November 2019	5 February 2023	Transferred from Tripura High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India
Hon. Amreshwar Pratap Sahi	17 November 2018	10 November 2019	Transferred from Allahabad High Court. Transferred to Madras High Court as its Chief Justice
Hon. Mukesh Shah	12 August 2018	1 November 2018	Transferred from Gujarat High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India
Hon. Rajendra Menon	15 March 2017	8 August 2018	Transferred from Madhya Pradesh High Court. Transferred to Delhi High Court as its Chief Justice
Hon. Iqbal Ahmed Ansari	29 August 2016	28 October 2016
Hon. L. Narasimha Reddy	2 January 2015	31 July 2015
Hon. Rekha Manharlal Doshit	21 June 2010	13 December 2014	Transferred from Gujarat High Court
Hon. Shri Dipak Misra	23 December 2009	24 June 2010	Elevated to Supreme Court on 10 October 2011. Took oath as Chief Justice of India on 28 August 2017
Hon. Shri Prafulla Kumar Mishra	12 August 2009	16 September 2009
Hon. Shri J. B. Koshy	16 March 2009	12 May 2009
Hon. Shri R.M. Lodha	13 May 2008	16 December 2008
Hon. Shri Rajesh Balia	5 January 2008	3 March 2008
Hon. Dr. J.N. Bhatt	18 July 2005	16 October 2007
Hon. Shri Ravi S. Dhavan	25 January 2000	22 July 2004
Hon. Shri B.M. Lal	9 July 1997	6 October 1999
Hon. Shri D.P. Wadhwa	29 September 1995	21 March 1997
Hon. Shri G.P. Patnaik	19 May 1995	11 September 1995
Hon. Shri K. Venkataswamy	19 September 1994	6 March 1995
Hon. Shri K. S. Paripoornan	24 January 1994	11 June 1994
Hon. Shri Bimal Chandra Basak	18 March 1991	21 October 1994
Hon. Shri Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani	24 October 1989	17 December 1990
Hon. Shri Shushil Kumar Jha	19 October 1989	23 October 1989
Hon. Shri Dipak Kumar Sen	1 May 1988	1 May 1989
Hon. Shri Bhagwati Prasad Jha	2 January 1988	2 January 1988
Hon. Shri Surjit Singh Sandhawalia	29 November 1983	27 July 1987
Hon. Shri Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh	19 July 1976	12 March 1982
Hon. Shri Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh	3 October 1974	1 May 1976
Hon. Shri Nand Lall Untwalia	29 September 1972	3 October 1974
Hon. Shri Ujjal Narayan Sinha	5 September 1970	29 September 1972
Hon. Shri Satish Chandra Mishra	9 November 1968	5 September 1970
Hon. Shri Ramaswamy Lakshmi Narasimhan	4 January 1965	2 August 1968
Hon. Shri Vaidyanathier Ramaswami	30 April 1956	4 January 1965
Hon. Shri Sudhansu Kumar Das	10 January 1955	30 April 1956
Hon. Shri Syed Jafar Imam	3 September 1953	10 January 1955
Hon. Shri David Ezra Reuben	1 June 1952	2 September 1953
Hon. Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha	8 April 1950	1 June 1952
Hon. Sir Herbert Ribton Meredith	25 January 1950	8 April 1950
Hon. Sir Clifford Monmohan Agarwala	9 January 1948	24 January 1950
Hon. Sir Syed Fazl Ali	19 January 1943	14 October 1946
Hon. Sir Arthur Trevor Harries	10 October 1938	19 January 1943
Hon. Sir Courtney Terrell	31 March 1928	6 May 1938
Hon. Sir Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller	31 October 1917	31 March 1928
Hon. Sir Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier	1 March 1916	30 October 1917

References

1. "The High Court of Judicature at Patna". patnahighcourt.gov.in. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
2. "The High Court of Judicature at Patna". patnahighcourt.gov.in. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
3. "Justice Rekha Doshit sworn in as Chief Justice of Patna HC - Hindustan Times". 14 March 2014. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
4. "LIST OF RETIRED CHIEF JUSICE". patnahighcourt.gov.in. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
5. "LIST OF RETIRED JUDGES". patnahighcourt.gov.in. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
6. "FORMER CHIEF JUSTICES | SUPREME COURT OF INDIA". main.sci.gov.in. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
7. "The High Court of Judicature at Patna". patnahighcourt.gov.in. Retrieved 31 May 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts
• Recent News and Updates From Patna High Court