The Gauhati High Court was promulgated by governor general of India on 1 March 1948 after the

Government of India Act 1935 The Government of India Act 1935 (25 & 26 Geo. 5. c. 42) was an Act of Parliament (UK), act passed by the British Parliament that originally received royal assent in August 1935. It was the longest act that the British Parliament ever enact ...

was passed, establishing the high court with effect from 5 April 1948, for the then-province of Assam. It was originally known as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland, but renamed as Gauhati High Court in 1971 by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971. It has largest jurisdiction in terms of states, with its area covering the states of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

, and Mizoram.

History

After Indian independence, the

Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral Assam Legislature, legislature of the List of states and union territories of India, Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Dispur, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present L ...

adopted a resolution on 9 September 1947 that a High Court be established for the province of Assam. In exercise of power conferred by the Government of India Act 1935, the Governor General of India on 1 March 1948 promulgated the Assam High Court Order, 1948, establishing the High Court of Assam. It was inaugurated on 5 April 1948 by H. J. Kania, the chief justice of India. Sir R.F. Lodge was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the Assam High Court on the same day. The Assam High Court initially had its sittings at Shillong but shifted to

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

on 14 August 1948. Later, when

state was created on 1 December 1963, the Assam High Court was renamed as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland. On re-organization of the northeastern region of India by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, the High Court of Assam and Nagaland was abolished with effect from 21 January 1972 by section 28(1)(a) of the Act. The Courts of Judicial Commissioners for Manipur and Tripura, which were functioning as high courts, were also abolished by section 30(1) of the Act. In place of these three entities, a common high court for five states, named Gauhati High Court, was established by section 28(1)(b) of the Act. This High Court was given jurisdiction over the then union territories of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram by section 32 of the Act. After Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura got a high court, the Gauhati High Court ceased its jurisdiction in these three states.

Principal seat and benches

The principal seat of the Gauhati High Court is at

. The court has 3 outlying benches. These are: # The Kohima bench for Nagaland state (established on 1 December 1972) # The Aizawl bench for Mizoram state (established on 5 July 1990) # The Itanagar bench for Arunachal Pradesh state (established on 12 August 2000) Former benches, now full-fledged high courts: # The Imphal bench (established on 21 January 1972) (Converted to a high court in March 2013) # The Agartala bench (established on 24 January 1972) (Converted to a high court in March 2013) # The Shillong bench (established on 4 September 1974) (Converted to a high court in March 2013)

The Kohima bench for Nagaland state

The Kohima bench is located on the eastern slope of the Ministers' Hill in the capital city of Nagaland, Kohima. The building where the Kohima bench was earlier a hostel, which was renovated for the Kohima bench. The inauguration of the bench was on 1 December 1972, by the Honorable Mr. Justice M.C. Pathak. The permanent judge for the state of Nagaland is Lanusungkum Jamir. Elevated as Additional Judge on 22 May 2013.

The Itanagar bench for Arunachal Pradesh state

The permanent bench at Itanagar was inaugurated on 12 August 2000 by A.S. Anand at Naharlagun, which is located about 13 km. from the capital town, Itanagar. The permanent judge is Pranoy Kumar Musahary.

The Aizawl bench for Mizoram state

The Aizawl permanent bench is situated at the capital city of Mizoram,

Aizawl Aizawl (, American English, US: , British English, UK: ; Mizo language, Mizo: ), formerly known as Aijal, is the capital city and the most populous city of Mizoram, India. It is also the third largest city in northeast India. It is situated ato ...

. On 5 July 1990, the Aizawl permanent bench of the Gauhati High Court was established and inaugurated by the then-chief justice of India, S.B. Mukherjee. The permanent judge is M. R. Pathak. Elevated as additional judge on 22 May 2013 is Michael Zothankhuma.

List of chief justices

References

Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts

External links

Gauhati High Court - legal directory
{{High courts of India Guwahati Government of Assam 1948 establishments in India Courts and tribunals established in 1948