Uttarakhand High Court

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Uttarakhand High Court
Uttarakhand High Court
29°23′45″N79°26′52″E / 29.3958°N 79.4477°E / 29.3958; 79.4477
Established9 November 2000;23 years ago (2000-11-09)
Jurisdiction Uttarakhand
Location Nainital, Uttarakhand
Coordinates 29°23′45″N79°26′52″E / 29.3958°N 79.4477°E / 29.3958; 79.4477
Composition method Presidential with confirmation of Chief Justice of India and Governor of Uttarakhand
Authorized by Constitution of India
Judge term lengthmandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions 11
(9 Permanent Judges + 2 Additional Judges)
Website Uttarakhand High Court
Chief Justice
Currently Ritu Bahri
Since4 February 2024

The Uttarakhand High Court is the High Court of the state of Uttarakhand in India. The Uttarakhand High Court was established on 9 November 2000 after the separation of the state of Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh. [1]

Contents

The sanctioned judge strength at the time of creation in 2000 was 7; this was increased to 9 in 2003. Justice Ashok Desai was the inaugural holder of the office. Former Chief Justices of Uttarakhand Sarosh Homi Kapadia and Jagdish Singh Khehar later went on to become Chief Justice of India. Ritu Bahri is the current Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court. She assumed office on 4 February 2024. [2]

History

The Uttarakhand High Court is a relatively new addition to India's judiciary system. The building of Uttarakhand High Court was constructed by Santoni MacDonald in 1900.

Uttarakhand was carved out from the state of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000 under the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000. At the time of the creation of the state, the High Court of Uttarakhand was also established on the same day.

The Uttarakhand High Court is located in Nainital, a scenic hill station in the Kumaon region of the state. [1]

The High Court consisted of just five court rooms at the beginning but later more court rooms were added. A huge Chief Justice Court Block and a Block of Lawyers’ chambers were built in 2007. [3]

Landmark judgements

In March 2017, Uttarakhand High Court's single-judge bench presided by Justice Rajeev Sharma, mandated that the rivers Ganges and Yamuna as well as all water bodies are "living entities" i.e. "legal person", and appointed 3 persons as trustees to protect the rights of rivers against the pollution caused by the humans. [4]

Rohit Sagar v. State of Uttarakhand

Rohit Sagar v. State of Uttarakhand (2021) is a case where Uttarakhand High Court's two-judges bench presided by Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Narayan Singh Dhanik, held that the legal adults have the fundamental right to choose their own partners, and directed the Uttarakhand Police to provide necessary protection for the individuals and their property. [5] [6]

List of sitting judges of the Uttarakhand High Court

There are currently eight sitting judges including the Chief Justice, with three posts of judges lying vacant. [7] Following is the list of the current serving judges of the Uttarakhand High Court, ordered by seniority.

No.NameDate of AppointmentDate of RetirementParent High CourtType of Vacancy
Permanent Judges
1 Ritu Bahri(Chief Justice)4 February 202410 October 2024 Punjab and Haryana Bench
2Manoj Kumar Tiwari19 May 201718 September 2027 Uttarakhand Bar
3Sharad Kumar Sharma31 December 2023
4 Ravindra Maithani 3 December 201824 June 2027 Bench
5Alok Kumar Verma27 May 201915 August 2026
6Rakesh Thapliyal28 April 202314 November 2027 Bar
7Pankaj Purohit27 July 2030
8Vivek Bharti Sharma12 June 2025 Bench
9Vacant
Additional Judges
10Vacant
11Vacant

Registrar General

Ashish Naithani is the current Registrar General of the Uttarakhand High Court. He Assumed office on 31 October 2023.

List of judges elevated to the Supreme Court of India

Sr. NoPortraitNameDate of ElevationDate of RetirementParent High Court
1 PC Pant.jpg Prafulla Chandra Pant 13 August 201429 August 2017Uttarakhand
2 Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.jpg Sudhanshu Dhulia 9 May 2022Incumbent

List of judges elevated as Chief Justice to other High Courts

Sr. NoNameDate of ElevationDate of RetirementParent High CourtRemark
1 Prafulla Chandra Pant 20 September 2013Elevated to the Supreme Court of India

Retired on 29 August 2017

UttarakhandChief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court
2 Vijay Kumar Bist 30 October 201816 September 2019Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court
3 Sudhanshu Dhulia 10 January 2021Elevated to the Supreme Court of India

Incumbent

Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Uttaranchal High Court Inaugurated". Zee News. 9 November 2000.
  2. "Justice Ritu Bahri becomes first woman chief justice of Uttarakhand high court". Hindustan Times. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  3. "About us: HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND".
  4. Birds to holy rivers: A list of everything India considers “legal persons”, Quartz, September 2019.
  5. Rohit Sagar & Anor. versus State of Uttarakhand & Ors., Writ Petition (CRL) No. 2254 of 2021 (Uttarakhand High Court16 December 2021).
  6. Jha, Prashant. "Uttarakhand High Court grants police protection to gay couple threatened by parents". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  7. Sitting judges of the Uttarakhand High Court