Uttarakhand High Court

Uttarakhand High Court
Interactive map of Uttarakhand High Court
29°23′45″N79°26′52″E / 29.3958°N 79.4477°E / 29.3958; 79.4477
Established	9 November 2000;25 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
Authorised by	Constitution of India
Judge term length	mandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions	11 (9 Permanent Judges + 2 Additional Judges)
Website	Uttarakhand High Court
Chief Justice
Currently	Manoj Kumar Gupta
Since	10 January 2026

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]

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.

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. 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 initially consisted of just five court rooms but later more court rooms were added. A huge^{[ vague ]} Chief Justice Court Block and a Block of Lawyers’ chambers were built in 2007. ^[2]

Landmark judgements

Vinod Prasad Raturi v. Union of India

In 2019, Vinod Prasad Raturi challenged administrative decisions regarding his seniority and postings in Uttarakhand following the formation of the state. The matter was initially heard in the Uttarakhand High Court, which emphasized procedural fairness and ruled that affected officers must be given an opportunity to be heard before any departmental action was taken. ^[3] Following the High Court's decision, Vinod Prasad Raturi filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court of India to seek review of certain administrative orders affecting his career. On 5 March 2021, the Supreme Court allowed aspects of his petition, directing that the High Court should ensure all affected parties are heard and procedural requirements are fully observed. The judgment effectively ruled in favor of Raturi, upholding his claims regarding seniority and procedural fairness, including the allocation of his 2005 cadre. This judgment is regarded as a reference point for bureaucratic accountability and fairness in administrative promotions and postings in Uttarakhand. ^[4]

Status of rivers as legal persons

See also: Pollution of the Ganges

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. ^[5]

Rohit Sagar v. State of Uttarakhand

Main article: 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. ^{[6] [7]}

List of sitting judges of the Uttarakhand High Court

There are currently ten sitting judges including the Chief Justice, with post of one additional judge lying vacant. ^[8] Following is the list of the current serving judges of the Uttarakhand High Court, ordered by seniority.

No.	Name	Date of Appointment	Date of Retirement	Type of Vacancy	Parent High Court
Permanent Judges
1	Manoj Kumar Gupta (Chief Justice)	10 January 2026	8 October 2026	Bar	Allahabad
2	Manoj Kumar Tiwari (Senior Judge)	19 May 2017	18 September 2027		Uttarakhand
3	Ravindra Maithani	3 December 2018	24 June 2027	Bench
4	Alok Kumar Verma	27 May 2019	15 August 2026
5	Rakesh Thapliyal	28 April 2023	14 November 2027	Bar
6	Pankaj Purohit		27 July 2030
7	Ashish Naithani	9 January 2025	3 June 2026	Bench
8	Alok Mahra	14 February 2025	31 January 2034	Bar
9	Subhash Upadhyay	30 May 2025	11 December 2034
Additional Judges
10	Siddharth Sah	8 January 2026	3 September 2033	Bar	Uttarakhand
11	Vacant

Registrar General

Yogesh Kumar Gupta is the current Registrar General of the Uttarakhand High Court. He assumed office on 6 June 2025.

Former Chief Justices

The Uttarakhand High Court was established on 9 November 2000 under Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 and has had 15 Chief Justices excluding Acting Chief Justices.

Permanent Chief Justices

Sr. No.	Name	Portrait	Date of Appointment	Date of Retirement	Tenure	Parent High Court
1	Ashok Desai		6 December 2000	31 March 2003	2 years, 116 days	Bombay
2	Sarosh Homi Kapadia		5 August 2003	17 December 2003 [†]	135 days	Bombay
3	Vikas Sridhar Sirpurkar		25 July 2004	19 March 2005 [§] [a]	238 days	Bombay
4	Cyriac Joseph		20 March 2005	6 January 2006 [§] [b]	293 days	Kerala
5	Rajeev Gupta		14 January 2006	1 February 2008 [§] [c]	2 years, 19 days	Madhya Pradesh
6	Vinod Kumar Gupta		2 February 2008	9 September 2009	1 year, 220 days	Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh
7	Jagdish Singh Khehar		29 November 2009	7 August 2010 [§] [b]	252 days	Punjab & Haryana
8	Barin Ghosh		12 August 2010	4 June 2014	3 years, 297 days	Calcutta
9	Kuttiyil Mathew Joseph		31 July 2014	6 August 2018 [†]	4 years, 7 days	Kerala
10	Ramesh Ranganathan		2 November 2018	27 July 2020	1 year, 269 days	Andhra Pradesh
11	Raghvendra Singh Chauhan		7 January 2021	23 December 2021	351 days	Rajasthan
12	Vipin Sanghi		28 June 2022	26 October 2023	1 year, 121 days	Delhi
13	Ritu Bahri		4 February 2024	10 October 2024	250 days	Punjab & Haryana
14	Guhanathan Narendar		26 December 2024	9 January 2026	1 year, 15 days	Karnataka
15	Manoj Kumar Gupta		10 January 2026	Incumbent	2 days	Allahabad

Acting Chief Justices

Name	From	To	Tenure	Tenure		Ref..
				Started due to	Completed due to
Ashok Desai	9 November 2000	5 December 2000	27 days	Creation of New HC	Became Permanent
Prakash Chandra Verma	1 April 2003	4 August 2003	126 days	Resignation of CJ Ashok Desai	Appointment of S. H. Kapadia as CJ	[9]
	18 December 2003	24 July 2004	220 days	Elevation of CJ S. H. Kapadia to Supreme Court	Appointment of V. S. Sirpurkar as CJ
	7 January 2006	13 January 2006	7 days	Transfer of CJ Cyriac Joseph to Karnataka	Appointment of Rajeev Gupta as CJ
B. C. Kandapal	10 September 2009	25 September 2009	16 days	Retirement of CJ V. K. Gupta	Transfer of Tarun Agarwala from Allahabad as ACJ	[10]
Tarun Agarwala	25 September 2009	28 November 2009	65 days	Transferred as ACJ	Appointment of J. S. Khehar as CJ	[11]
V. K. Bist	5 June 2014	30 July 2014	56 days	Retirement of CJ Barin Ghosh	Appointment of K. M. Joseph as CJ	[12]
Rajeev Sharma	7 August 2018	2 November 2018	87 days	Elevation of CJ K. M. Joseph to Supreme Court	Appointment of Ramesh Ranganathan as CJ	[13]
Ravi Malimath	28 July 2020	6 January 2021	132 days	Retirement of CJ Ramesh Ranganathan	Transfer as Judge to Himachal Pradesh
S. K. Mishra	24 December 2021	28 June 2022	187 days	Retirement of CJ R. S. Chauhan	Appointment of Vipin Sanghi as CJ	[14]
Manoj Kumar Tiwari	27 October 2023	3 February 2024	100 days	Retirement of CJ Vipin Sanghi	Appointment of Ritu Bahri as CJ
	11 October 2024	25 December 2024	76 days	Retirement of CJ Ritu Bahri	Appointment of G. Narendar as CJ

Judges elevated to the Supreme Court of India

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	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

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	Prafulla Chandra Pant		29 June 2004	13 August 2014	29 August 2017	10 years, 45 days	3 years, 17 days	13 years, 62 days	2nd CJ of Meghalaya HC
2	Sudhanshu Dhulia		1 November 2008	9 May 2022	9 August 2025	13 years, 189 days	3 years, 93 days	16 years, 282 days	39th CJ of Gauhati HC

Judges elevated as Chief Justice to other high courts

Sr. No	Name	Date of Elevation	Date of Retirement	Parent High Court	Remark
1	Prafulla Chandra Pant	20 September 2013	Elevated to the Supreme Court of India Retired on 29 August 2017	Uttarakhand	Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court
2	Vijay Kumar Bist	30 October 2018	Retired on 16 September 2019		Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court
3	Sudhanshu Dhulia	10 January 2021	Elevated to the Supreme Court of India Retired on 9 August 2025		Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court

See also

• Chief Justice of Uttarakhand
• List of judges of the Uttarakhand High Court
• High courts of India
• List of sitting judges of the high courts of India
• Supreme Court of India
• List of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India
• Bar Council of Uttarakhand
• District Courts of India
• Nyaya panchayat
• Uttarakhand Lok Adalat
• Uttarakhand Lokayukta
• Judiciary of India

Notes

1. Transferred to Calcutta High Court
2. Transferred to Karnataka High Court
3. Transferred to Chhattisgarh High Court

References

1. "Uttaranchal High Court Inaugurated". Zee News. 9 November 2000.
2. "About us: HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND".
3. "Vinod Prasad Raturi vs Union Of India". 5 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2025.
4. "Supreme Court of India Judgment: Vinod Prasad Raturi" (PDF). Retrieved 24 August 2025.
5. Birds to holy rivers: A list of everything India considers “legal persons”, Quartz, September 2019.
6. Rohit Sagar & Anor. versus State of Uttarakhand & Ors., Writ Petition (CRL) No. 2254 of 2021 (Uttarakhand High Court16 December 2021).
7. Jha, Prashant. "Uttarakhand High Court grants police protection to gay couple threatened by parents". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
8. Sitting judges of the Uttarakhand High Court
9. "Hon'ble Mr. Justice Prakash Chandra Verma". www.allahabadhighcourt.in. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
10. "Hon'ble Mr Justice B.C.Kandpal | High Court of Uttarakhand | India" . Retrieved 14 October 2025.
11. "Hon'ble Mr. Justice Tarun Agarwala (Sr. Judge, Alld.)". www.allahabadhighcourt.in. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
12. "Appointment of VK Bisht as Acting Chief Justice".
13. "Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rajiv Sharma, Judge | High Court of Uttarakhand | India" . Retrieved 14 October 2025.
14. "High Court of Jharkhand, India". jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 9 October 2025.

External links

• The High Court of Uttarakhand, official website
• Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts
• Latest Legal Updates and News of Uttarakhand High Court
• High Court of Uttarakhand