INTRODUCTION
High courts of India operates below the Supreme Court but above the subordinate courts.
1st high courts were set up in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1862.
In 1866, a 4th high court was established at Allahabad. Constitution of India provides for a high court for each state.
7th Amendment Act of 1956 authorized Parliament to establish a common high court for two or more states or union territory
At present, there are 25 high courts in the country (Andhra Pradesh 2019), 3 new High courts are Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura. There are 4 common high courts. Delhi is the only union territory that has a high court since 1966.
ARTICLE 214 HIGH COURTS FOR STATES
There shall be a High Court for each State.
ARTICLE 215 HIGH COURTS TO BE COURTS OF RECORD
Every High Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.
Court of Record – It involves recording of judgments, proceedings and acts of high courts to be recorded for the perpetual memory. These records cannot be further questioned in any court. Based on this record it has power to punish for the contempt of court either with simple imprisonment or with fine or both.
ARTICLE 216 CONSTITUTION OF HIGH COURTS
Every High Court shall consist of a Chief Justice and such other Judges as the President may from time to time deem it necessary to appoint.
Constitution does not specify the strength of a high court.
ARTICLE 217 APPOINTMENT AND CONDITIONS OF THE OFFICE OF A JUDGE OF A HIGH COURT
1. Appointment Every Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal on the recommendation of the National Judicial Appointments Commission referred to in article 124 A( By 99th Amendment Act in 2014.), and shall hold office, in the case of an additional or acting Judge, as provided in article 224, and in any other case, until he attains the age of sixty-two years:
Provided that-
a. a Judge may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office;
b. a Judge may be removed from his office by the President in the manner provided in clause (4) of article 124 for the removal of a Judge of the Supreme Court;
c. the office of a Judge shall be vacated by his being appointed by the President to be a Judge of the Supreme Court or by his being transferred by the President to any other High Court within the territory of India.
2. Qualification A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of a High Court unless he is a citizen of India and-has for at least ten years held a judicial office in the territory of India; or has for at least ten years been an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession.
EXPLANATION
For the purposes of this clause-
(a) in computing the period during which a person has held judicial office in the territory of India, there shall be included any period, after he has held any judicial office, during which the person has been an advocate of a High Court or has held the office of a member of a tribunal or any post, under the Union or a State, requiring special knowledge of law;
(aa) in computing the period during which a person has been an advocate of a High Court, there shall be included any period during which the person has held judicial office or the office of a member of a tribunal or any post, under the Union or a State, requiring special knowledge of law after he became an advocate;
(b) in computing the period during which a person has held judicial office in the territory of India or been an advocate of a High Court, there shall be included any period before the commencement of this Constitution during which he has held judicial office in any area which was comprised before the fifteenth day of August, 1947, within India as defined by the Government of India Act, 1935, or has been an advocate of any High Court in any such area, as the case may be.
3. [A. 124 (3) ] = If any question arises as to the age of a Judge of a High Court, the question shall be decided by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the decision of the President shall be final.
ARTICLE 218 APPLICATION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS RELATING TO SUPREME COURT TO HIGH COURTS
The provisions of clauses (4) and (5) of article 124 shall apply in relation to a High Court as they apply in relation to the Supreme Court with the substitution of references to the High Court for references to the Supreme Court.
ARTICLE 219 OATH OR AFFIRMATION BY JUDGES OF HIGH COURTS
Every person appointed to be a Judge of a High Court shall, before he enters upon his office, make and subscribe before the Governor of the State, or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule.
ARTICLE 220 RESTRICTION ON PRACTICE AFTER BEING A PERMANENT JUDGE
No person who, after the commencement of this Constitution, has held office as a permanent Judge of a High Court shall plead or act in any court or before any authority in India except the Supreme Court and the other High Courts.
EXPLANATION
In this article, the expression “High Court” does not include a High Court for a State specified in Part B of the First Schedule as it existed before the commencement of the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956.
ARTICLE 221 SALARIES, ETC, OF JUDGES
There shall be paid to the Judges of each High Court such salaries as may be determined by Parliament by law and, until provision in that behalf is so made, such salaries as are specified in the Second Schedule.
Every Judge shall be entitled to such allowances and to such rights in respect of leave of absence and pension as may from time to time be determined by or under law made by Parliament and, until so determined, to such allowances and rights as are specified in the Second Schedule:
Provided that neither the allowances of a Judge nor his rights in respect of leave of absence or pension shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
ARTICLE 222 TRANSFER OF A JUDGE FROM ONE HIGH COURT TO ANOTHER
The President may, on the recommendation of the National Judicial Appointments Commission referred to in article 124 A, transfer a Judge from one High Court to any other High Court.
When a Judge has been or is so transferred, he shall, during the period he serves, after the commencement of the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 1963, as a Judge of the other High Court, be entitled to receive in addition to his salary such compensatory allowance as may be determined by Parliament by law and, until so determined, such compensatory allowance as the President may by order fix.
ARTICLE 223 APPOINTMENT OF ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE
When the office of Chief Justice of a High Court is vacant or when any such Chief Justice is, by reason of absence or otherwise, unable to perform the duties of his office, the duties of the office shall be performed by such one of the other Judges of the Court as the President may appoint for the purpose.
ARTICLE 224 APPOINTMENT OF ADDITIONAL AND ACTING JUDGES
If by reason of any temporary increase in the business of a High Court or by reason of arrears of work therein, it appears to the President that the number of the Judges of that Court should be for the time being increased, the President may, in consultation with the National Judicial Appointments Commission, appoint duly qualified persons to be additional Judges of the Court for such period not exceeding two years as he may specify.
ARTICLE 224 A APPOINTMENT OF RETIRED JUDGES AT SITTINGS OF HIGH COURTS
Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter, the National Judicial Appointments Commission on a reference made to it by the Chief Justice of a High Court for any State, may with the previous consent of the President, request any person who has held the office of a Judge of that Court or of any other High Court to sit and act as a Judge of the High Court for that State, and every such person so requested shall, while so sitting and acting, be entitled to such allowances as the President may by order determine and have all the jurisdiction, powers and privileges of, but shall not otherwise be deemed to be, a Judge of that High Court.
Provided that nothing in this article shall be deemed to require any such person as aforesaid to sit and act as a Judge of that High Court unless he consents so to do.
