Telangana High Court

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High Court for the State of Telangana
Telangana rāṣṭra unnata n'yāyasthānaṁ
తెలంగాణ రాష్ట్ర ఉన్నత న్యాయస్థానం
High Court of Telangana in Hyderabad06.jpg
Telangana State High Court Building
Telangana High Court
17°22′09″N78°28′19″E / 17.369181°N 78.472039°E / 17.369181; 78.472039
Established1 January 2019(6 years ago) (1 January 2019)
Jurisdiction Telangana
Location Hyderabad, Telangana
Coordinates 17°22′09″N78°28′19″E / 17.369181°N 78.472039°E / 17.369181; 78.472039
Composition methodExecutive selection subject to qualification
Authorised by Constitution of India & Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014
Judge term lengthmandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions42 {Permanent 32; Addl. 10}
Website tshc.gov.in
Chief Justice
Currently Aparesh Kumar Singh
Since19 July 2025

The Telangana High Court is the High Court for the Indian state of Telangana. Founded by the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan, [1] It was established as a High Court for the erstwhile Hyderabad State and in November 1956 after formation of Andhra Pradesh renamed as High Court of Andhra Pradesh. In 2014, after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh the Court was again renamed as High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad. [2]

Contents

The President of India, on 26 December 2018, issued orders bifurcating the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad into High Court for the State of Telangana with the principal seat at Hyderabad and the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, with the principal seat at Amaravati. The bifurcation and the constitution of separate High Courts for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh came into effect from 1 January 2019.

From 2 June 2014, after the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 came into force, the court was renamed and served as a common high court for both of the states until 1 January 2019. A separate high court was established for Andhra Pradesh and inaugurated on 1 January 2019 and it was named as Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The Telangana High Court, which has its seat in Hyderabad, has a total sanctioned strength of 42 judges, comprising 32 permanent judges and 10 additional judges. [3] [4]

Since July 2025, Aparesh Kumar Singh has been serving as the Chief Justice of Telangana High Court [5] [6] .

A new building for the High Court is under construction on a site spanning 100 acres at Budvel, Rajendranagar, in Ranga Reddy district, Telangana [7] .

History of the judiciary

The court during the Nizam era was known as Adalatul Aaliya Osmania (Higher court of Osman Ali Khan) and on November 5, 1956, after Andhra Pradesh was formed under the States Reorganisation Act 1956 it was renamed as ‘High Court of Andhra Pradesh’. [8] On 1 January 2019, the High Court was bifurcated into Andhra Pradesh High Court and Telangana High Court after the formation of the state of Telangana. [9]

History of the High Court building

The High Court building today stands on the south bank of the River Musi. The court building built in red and white stones in Indo-Saracenic style, is one of the finest buildings in the city. The construction was started under Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, then ruler of Hyderabad. [8] [10]

View of the High Court in early 20th century High court, Hyderabad.jpg
View of the High Court in early 20th century

The High Court functioned from five different locations, before the present location was finalised. The court was earlier located at Pathergatti. In 1909 it was shifted to the residence of Nawab Sir Asman Jah. Later in 1912, the court was shifted to Public Gardens and within 4 months it was once again shifted to the residence of Nawab Nawab Salar Jung Bahadur, at Chatta Bazaar. In 1914, the court was once again shifted to the residence of Nawab Sartaj Jung at Saifabad. During this period the construction of the present building was started and the court shifted to its new location in 1919. The building could accommodate six judges besides accommodation for the office staff, record rooms, and advocates' hall. As number of judges increased a second building was built in 1958 and later in 1978, third building was added. In 2023, it was proposed to shift the court to a new building to be constructed at Rajendranagar. [8] [11] [12]

View of the High Court in 2024 Telangana High Court 10.jpg
View of the High Court in 2024

The plan of the High Court was drawn up by Shankar Lal of Jaipur and the local engineer who executed the design was Mehar Ali Fazil. Its chief engineer was Nawab Khan Bahadur Mirza Akbar Baig. The High Court was built on the ruins of the Qutb Shahi palaces, Hina Mahal and Nadi Mahal. [8] The construction started on 15 April 1915 and was completed on 31 March 1919. On 20 April 1920, the high court building was inaugurated by the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan.

In 1944, on the occasion of the silver jubilee celebrations a silver model of the high court weighing about 300 kg was presented to the Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan by the judiciary. The model is now in the Nizam's Museum in Purani Haveli. [13]

The High Court building has been included in the list of heritage structures compiled by INTACH. World Monuments Fund has included the building in 2025 World Monuments Watch. [14]

After the formation of Andhra Pradesh

When the High Court of Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956 as a consequence of States Reorganisation Act, the number of judges was increased to 12. The existing accommodation was inadequate to meet the requirements of the larger High Court and so the additional building was constructed in 1958–59. The entire office rooms, record rooms, chambers of advocates (42 in all) and the rooms for law officers were located in this building. The record rooms, Officer rooms in the main building were modified to provide chambers and Court Hall accommodation for 14 Judges.

Construction of Annexe

By 1970, the institution of cases of the High Court has gone up to 35,000 as against 20,000 in 1958. The number of judges increased from 14 to 32. To provide additional accommodation for judges, staff, advocates and law officers, the third building was proposed and the work was completed in 1976. The law officers strength was increased from 8 to 18 by 1980 and the institution of cases had gone up to 55,593 cases. In 1979 a plan was drawn for the four-storey annexe building and due to lack of funds that could not be taken up. There are currently 32 court halls and 38 chambers located in the High Court main building and annexe buildings. The present building for which the foundation stone is being laid by the Chief Justice will have eight court halls and eight chambers for the judges. Some of the court halls located in the verandahs and in the office rooms will be restored to their original position. The institution of cases had risen from 20,078 from 1958 to 1982, 123 including miscellaneous cases in 1985. The pending cases in the High Court as on 24 July 1987 was 84,855 (i.e., 66,276 main cases + 18,579 miscellaneous cases). After the completion of this building, the main building and annexes buildings can locate 32 court halls and 38 chambers.

2009 Major fire

On 31 August 2009 a major accidental fire broke out through the building reportedly causing severe damage to the library housing rare England law reports, Privy Council journals and a life-size portrait of the Nizam and portraits of judges. However, the records of the court are reportedly safe. The structural integrity of the building also may have been compromised. [15] [16]

The Judges

The Telangana High Court sits at Hyderabad and has jurisdiction over the state of Telangana. It may have a maximum of 42 judges of which 32 may be permanently appointed and 10 may be additionally appointed. Currently, it has 29 judges. [17]

Permanent Judges

#JudgesSourceDate of JoiningDate of Retirement
1 Aparesh Kumar Singh (CJ)

(PHC: Jharkhand HC)

Bar24 January 20126 July 2027
2Puthichira Sam Koshy

(PHC: Chhattisgarh HC)

Bar16 September 201329 April 2029
3Abhinand Kumar ShavaliBar21 September 20177 October 2025
4Moushumi Bhattacharya

(PHC: Calcutta HC)

Bar21 September 201726 October 2029
5K. LakshmanBar26 August 20197 June 2028
6Bollampally Vijaysen ReddyBar2 May 202021 August 2032
7Noonsavath TukaramjiJudicial Service15 October 202123 January 2035
8T. Madhavi DeviBar/Income Tax

Tribunal Judicial Member

15 October 202127 December 2027
9Surepalli NandaBar24 March 20223 April 2031
10Juvvadi SrideviBar24 March 20229 August 2034
11N.V. Shravan KumarBar24 March 202217 August 2029
12C.V. Bhaskar ReddyBar4 August 202227 June 2030
13Venkata Venugopal EnugulaBar16 August 202215 August 2029
14Nagesh BheemapakaBar16 August 20227 March 2031
15Pulla KarthikBar16 August 20223 June 2029
16Sarath KajaBar16 August 202228 January 2033
17Jaggannagari Sreenivas RaoBar16 August 202230 August 2031
18Namavarapu Rajeshwar RaoBar16 August 202229 June 2031
19Laxminarayana AlishettyBar31 July 202312 May 2030
20Anil Kumar JukantiBar31 July 202327 December 2033
21Sujana KalasikamJudicial Service31 July 20239 March 2032

Additional Judges [18] [19]

#JudgesSourceDate of JoiningDate of Retirement
1Smt. Renuka YaraJudicial Service25 January 202513 June 2035
2 Narsing Rao Nandikonda Judicial Service25 January 20252 May 2031
3Smt. Tirumala Devi EadaJudicial Service25 January 20251 June 2026
4B.R. Madhusudhan RaoJudicial Service25 January 202524 May 2031
5Gouse Meera MohiuddinBar31 July 202514 July, 2031
6Chalapathi Rao SuddalaBar31 July 202524 June, 2033
7Vakiti Ramkrishna ReddyBar31 July 202513 September, 2032
8Gadi Praveen KumarBar31 July 202527 August, 2033

Judges of the Telangana High Court Serving on Transfer in Other Courts

#JudgesSourceDate of JoiningDate of RetirementCurrent High Court
1 M. S. Ramachandra Rao Bar29 June 20126 August 2028 Tripura High Court
2 Todupunuri Amarnath Goud Bar21 September 201728 February 2027 Tripura High Court
3T. Vinod KumarBar26 August 201916 November 2026 Madras High Court
4Annireddy Abhishek ReddyBar26 August 20196 November 2029 Patna High Court
5Perugu Sree SudhaJudicial Service15 October 20215 June 2029 Karnataka High Court
6Chillakur SumalathaJudicial Service15 October 20214 February 2034 Karnataka High Court
7Munnuri LaxmanJudicial Service15 October 202115 October 2031 Rajasthan High Court
8Kasoju SurendharBar24 March 202210 January 2030 Madras High Court
9Mummineni Sudheer KumarBar24 March 202219 May 2031 Madras High Court
10Gunnu Anupama ChakravarthyJudicial Service24 March 202220 March 2032 Patna High Court

Chief Justices

S.No.Chief JusticeTenure
Hyderabad State High Court
1Muhammad Muslehuddin. [20]
2 Nizamat Jung [21] 1916–1918
S.No.Chief JusticeTenure
Hyderabad State High Court
R. S. Naik
S.No.Chief JusticeTenure
United Andhra Pradesh High Court
1 Koka Subba Rao 1956–1958
2 P. Chandra Reddy 1958–1964
3 P. Satyanarayana Raju 1964–1965
4 Manohar Pershad 1965–1966
5N.D. Krishna Rao1966–1966
6 P. Jagan Mohan Reddy 1966–1969
7 N. Kumarayya 1969–1971
8K.V.L. Narasimham1971–1972
9 Gopal Rao Ekbote 1972–1974
10 S. Obul Reddi 1974–1976 & 1977–1978
11 B. J. Divan 1976–1977
12 Avula Sambasiva Rao 1978–1979
13 Challa Kondaiah 1979–1980
14 Alladi Kuppu Swami 1980–1982
15 Konda Madhava Reddy 1982–1984
16Koka Ramachandra Rao1984–1984
17P. Chennakesav Reddi1985–1985
18K. Bhaskaran1985–1988
19 Yogeshwar Dayal 1988–1991
20S.C. Pratap1991–1992
21S.B. Majumdar1992–1993
22 Sundaram Nainar Sundaram 1993–1994
23 Saiyed Sagir Ahmed 1994–1995
24 Prabha Shankar Mishra 1995–1997
25 Umesh Chandra Banerjee 1998
26 Manmohan Singh Liberhan 1998–2000
27 S. B. Sinha 2000–2001
28Dr A.R. Lakshmanan2001–2002
29 Devinder Gupta 2003–2005
30 G.S. Singhvi 2005–2007
31 Anil Ramesh Dave 2007–2010
32 Nisar Ahmad Kakru 2010–2011
33 Madan Lokur 2011–2012
34 Pinaki Chandra Ghose 2012–2013
35 Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta 2013 – 1 June 2014
S.No.Chief JusticeTenure
High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad
1 Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta 2 June 2014 – 2015
2 Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale 2015
3 T.B. Radhakrishnan July 7, 2018 – December 31, 2018
S.No.Chief JusticeTenure
Telangana High Court
1 T.B. Radhakrishnan January 1, 2019 – April 2, 2019
2 Raghvendra Singh Chauhan June 22, 2019 – January 6, 2021
3 Hima Kohli January 7, 2021 – August 30, 2021
4 Satish Chandra Sharma October 11, 2021 – June 27, 2022
5 Ujjal Bhuyan June 28, 2022 – July 13, 2023
6 Alok Aradhe July 23, 2023 – January 20, 2025
7 Sujoy Paul (Acting)January 21, 2025 - 16 July, 2025
8 Aparesh Kumar Singh May 2025 [22] - incumbent

Present Registrars of High Court

  1. Registrar General – E. Tirumala Devi
  2. Registrar (Judicial I) – Sri Sura Srinivas Reddy
  3. Registrar (Judicial II)-K Gangadhara rao
  4. Registrar (Administration) – V. Bala Bhaskar Rao
  5. Registrar (I.T.)-cum-Central Project Coordinator (IT & E-Committee related) – T Venkateswara Rao
  6. Registrar (Vigilance) – E. Tirumala Devi
  7. Registrar (Management)-V Ramesh
  8. Registrar (Protocol)-T Venkateswara Rao
  9. District Judge (Enquiries)
  10. Registrar (Recruitment) – Sri Sura Srinivas Reddy

Present unit heads

  1. Adilabad – M. R. Sunitha
  2. Karimnagar – B. Prathima
  3. Khammam – P Chandrashekara Prasad
  4. Mahabubnagar -S Premavathi
  5. Medak – B Papi Reddy
  6. Nalgonda – S Jagjeevan Kumar
  7. Nizamabad -Kunchala Suneetha
  8. Rangareddy – R Tirupathi
  9. Warangal – Narsing Rao Nandikonda
  10. Hyderabad-City Civil Court – Renuka Yara
  11. Hyderabad-City Small Causes Court -V B Nirmala Geethamba
  12. Hyderabad-Metropolitan Sessions Court – E Tirumala Devi
  13. Hyderabad – Principal CBI – Ch. Ramesh Babu

See also

References

  1. "TSHC - High Court for the State of Telangana - History | Official Website of e-Committee, Supreme Court of India | India" . Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  2. "About Us". tshc.gov.in. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  3. Today, Telangana (22 July 2022). "'27 Judges working in Telangana HC against sanctioned strength of 42'". Telangana Today. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  4. "Chief Justice of India Approves Increase in Number of Judges to 42 from 24 in Telangana High Court". The Frontline.
  5. "Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh sworn in as Chief Justice of Telangana High Court". The Hindu.
  6. "Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Chief Justice of Telangana HC". The Deccan Chronicle.
  7. "Telangana Govt allots 100 acre land of agri and horticulture varsities for construction of new High Court Building Complex". The Hindu.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Moin, Ather (20 April 2019). "Hyderabad high court building turns 100 years old". Deccan Chronicle . Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  9. "Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to have separate HCs". The Hindu. 26 December 2018. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  10. "As Hyderabad High Court turns 100, city historians recall rich legacy". The News Minute. 20 April 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  11. "New Telanagana HC building at Rajendranagar". The New Indian Express . 15 December 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  12. "About Us".
  13. Richi, Priyanka (20 April 2019). "As Hyderabad High Court turns 100, city historians recall rich legacy". The News Minute . Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  14. Banerjee, Mrittika (16 January 2025). "Hyderabad's Heritage Sites Make it to 2025 World Monuments Watchlist". Deccan Chronicle . Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  15. "HC up in flames". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009.
  16. "India News: Today's latest updates and breaking news from India, Live India News".
  17. "HON'BLE JUDGES PROFILE". hc.tap.nic.in. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  18. "Four Judicial Officers Sworn In As Additional Judges Of Telangana High Court". The Live Law.
  19. "Four new judges of Telangana High Court take oath". The Hans India.
  20. Rao, C. Hayavadana, ed. (1915). "Hakim-ud-Daula"  . The Indian Biographical Dictionary  . Vol. 9.1. Madras: Pillar & Co. p. 174.
  21. Iyer, N. V (1947). Sir Nizamat Jung; a short study. Place of publication not identified: Nizam Silver Jubilee Press. OCLC   28357691.
  22. "Telangana High Court to Get New CJ". Deccan Chronicle. 28 May 2025. Archived from the original on 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.