The Constitution of India (Original Calligraphed and Illuminated Version)/Part 6/Chapter 5

by the Constituent Assembly of India

Chapter V. — The High Courts in the States

214. (1) There shall be a High Court for each State.

(2) For the purposes of this Constitution the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to any Province immediately before the commencement of this Constitution shall be deemed to be the High Court for the corresponding State.

(3) The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to every High Court referred to in this article.

215. 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.

216. 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:

Provided that the Judges so appointed shall at no time exceed in number such maximum number as the President may, from time to time, by order fix in relation to that Court.

217. (1) Every Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the State, and, in the case of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of the High Court, and shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty 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.

High Courts for States.

High Courts to be courts of record.

Constitution of High Courts.

Appointment and conditions of the office of a Judge of a High Court.

(2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of a High Court unless he is a citizen of India and—

(a) has for at least ten years held a judicial office in the territory of India; or

(b) has for at least ten years been an advocate of a High Court in any State specified in the First Schedule 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 been an advocate of a High Court, there shall be included any period during which the person has held judicial office 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.

218. 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.

219. Every person appointed to be a Judge of a High Court in a State 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.

220. No person who has held office as a Judge of a High Court after the commencement of this Constitution shall plead or act in any court or before any authority within the territory of India.

Application of certain provisions relating to Supreme Court to High Courts.

Oath or affirmation by Judges of High Courts.

Prohibition of practising in courts or before any authority by Judges.

221. (1) There shall be paid to the Judges of each High Court such salaries as are specified in the Second Schedule.

(2) 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.

222. (1) The President may, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, transfer a Judge from one High Court to any other High Court within the territory of India.

(2) When a Judge is so transferred, he shall, during the period he serves as a Judge of the other 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.

223. 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.

224. Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter, the Chief Justice of a High Court for any State may at any time, 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

Salaries, etc., of Judges.

Transfer of a Judge from one High Court to another.

Appointment of acting Chief Justice.

Attendance of retired Judges at sittings of High Courts.

Court unless he consents so to do.

225. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and to the provisions of any law of the appropriate Legislature made by virtue of powers conferred on that Legislature by this Constitution, the jurisdiction of, and the law administered in, any existing High Court, and the respective powers of the Judges thereof in relation to the administration of justice in the Court, including any power to make rules of Court and to regulate the sittings of the Court and of members thereof sitting alone or in Division Courts, shall be the same as immediately before the commencement of this Constitution:

Provided that any restriction to which the exercise of original jurisdiction by any of the High Courts with respect to any matter concerning the revenue or concerning any act ordered or done in the collection thereof was subject immediately before the commencement of this Constitution shall no longer apply to the exercise of such jurisdiction.

226. (1) Notwithstanding anything in article 32, every High Court shall have power, throughout the territories in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction, to issue to any person or authority, including in appropriate cases any Government, within those territories directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari, or any of them, for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by Part III and for any other purpose.

(2) The power conferred on a High Court by clause (1) shall not be in derogation of the power conferred on the Supreme Court by clause (2) of article 32.

227. (1) Every High Court shall have superintendence over all courts and tribunals throughout the territories in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the High Court may—

(a) call for returns from such courts;

(b) make and issue general rules and prescribe forms for regulating the practice and proceedings of such courts; and

(c) prescribe forms in which books, entries and accounts shall be

Jurisdiction of existing High Courts.

Power of High Courts to issue certain writs.

Power of superintendence over all courts by the High Court.

kept by the officers of any such courts.

(3) The High Court may also settle tables of fees to be allowed to the sheriff and all clerks and officers of such courts and to attorneys, advocates and pleaders practising therein:

Provided that any rules made, forms prescribed or tables settled under clause (2) or clause (3) shall not be inconsistent with the provision of any law for the time being in force, and shall require the previous approval of the Governor.

(4) Nothing in this article shall be deemed to confer on a High Court powers of superintendence over any court or tribunal constituted by or under any law relating to the Armed Forces.

228. If the High Court is satisfied that a case pending in a court subordinate to it involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Constitution the determination of which is necessary for the disposal of the case, it shall withdraw the case and may—

(a) either dispose of the case itself, or

(b) determine the said question of law and return the case to the court from which the case has been so withdrawn together with a copy of its judgment on such question, and the said court shall on receipt thereof proceed to dispose of the case in conformity with such judgment.

229. (1) Appointments of officers and servants of a High Court shall be made by the Chief Justice of the Court or such other Judge or officer of the Court as he may direct:

Provided that the Governor of the State in which the High Court has its principal seat may by rule require that in such cases as may be specified in the rule no person not already attached to the Court shall be appointed to any office connected with the Court save after consultation with the State Public Service Commission.

(2) Subject to the provisions of any law made by the Legislature of the State, the conditions of service of officers and servants of a High Court shall be such as may be prescribed by rules made by the Chief Justice of the Court or by some other Judge or officer of the Court authorised

Transfer of certain cases to High Court.

Officers and servants and the expenses of High Courts.

by the Chief Justice to make rules for the purpose:

Provided that the rules made under this clause shall, so far as they relate to salaries, allowances, leave or pensions, require the approval of the Governor of the State in which the High Court has its principal seat.

(3) The administrative expenses of a High Court, including all salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of the officers and servants of the Court, shall be charged upon the Consolidated Fund of the State, and any fees or other moneys taken by the Court shall form part of that Fund.

230. Parliament may by law—

(a) extend the jurisdiction of a High Court to, or

(b) exclude the jurisdiction of a High Court from,

any State specified in the First Schedule other than, or any area not within, the State in which the High Court has its principal seat.

231. Where a High Court exercises jurisdiction in relation to any area outside the State in which it has its principal seat, nothing in this Constitution shall be construed—

(a) as empowering the Legislature of the State in which the Court has its principal seat to increase, restrict or abolish that jurisdiction;

(b) as empowering the Legislature of a State specified in Part A or Part B of the First Schedule in which any such area is situate, to abolish that jurisdiction; or

(c) as preventing the Legislature having power to make laws in that behalf for any such area, from passing, subject to the provisions of clause (b), such laws with respect to the jurisdiction of the Court in relation to that area as it would be competent to pass if the principal seat of the Court were in that area.

232. Where a High Court exercises jurisdiction in relation to more than one State specified in the First Schedule or in relation to a State and an area not forming part of the State—

(a) references in this Chapter to the Governor in relation to the Judges of a High Court shall be construed as

Extension of or exclusion from the jurisdiction of High Courts.

Restrictions on the powers of the Legislatures of States to make laws with respect to jurisdiction of a High Court in a State having jurisdiction outside that State.

Interpretation.

references to the Governor of the State in which the Court has its principal seat;

(b) the reference to the approval by the Governor of rules, forms and tables for subordinate courts shall be construed as a reference to the approval thereof by the Governor or the Rajpramukh of the State in which the subordinate court is situate, or if it is situate in an area not forming part of any State specified in Part A or Part B of the First Schedule, by the President; and

(c) references to the Consolidated Fund of the State shall be construed as references to the Consolidated Fund of the State in which the Court has its principal seat.

Chapter VI.—Subordinate Courts

233. (1) Appointments of persons to be, and the posting and promotion of, district judges in any State shall be made by the Governor of the State in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State.

(2) A person not already in the service of the Union or of the State shall only be eligible to be appointed a district judge if he has been for not less than seven years an advocate or a pleader and is recommended by the High Court for appointment.

234. Appointments of persons other than district judges to the judicial service of a State shall be made by the Governor of the State in accordance with rules made by him in that behalf after consultation with the State Public Service Commission and with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State.

235. The control over district courts and courts subordinate thereto including the posting and promotion of, and the grant of leave to, persons belonging to the judicial service of a State and holding any post inferior to the post of district judge shall be vested in the High Court, but nothing in this article shall be construed as taking away from any such

Appointment of district judges.

Recruitment of persons other than district judges to the judicial service.

Control over subordinate courts.