The High Court of Delhi was established on 31 October 1966. The High Court of Delhi was established with four judges..
History :- On 21 March 1919, the High Court of Judicature at Lahore was established with jurisdiction over the provinces of Punjab and Delhi. This jurisdiction lasted till 1947 when India was partitioned. The High Courts (Punjab) Order, 1947 established a new High Court for the province of East Punjab with effect from 15 August 1947.
The India (Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws) Order, 1947 provided that any reference in an existing Indian law to the High Court of Judicature at Lahore be replaced by a reference to the High Court of East Punjab.
The High Court of East Punjab started functioning from Shimla in a building called “Peterhoff”. This building burnt down in January, 1981.[citation needed] When the Secretariat of the Punjab Government shifted to Chandigarh in 1954-55, the High Court also shifted to Chandigarh. The High Court of Punjab, as it later came to be called, exercised jurisdiction over Delhi through a Circuit Bench which dealt with the cases pertaining to the Union Territory of Delhi and the Delhi Administration.
In view of the importance of Delhi, its population and other considerations, the Indian Parliament, by enacting the Delhi High Court Act, 1966, established the High Court of Delhi effective from 31 October 1966. By virtue of Section 3(1) of the Delhi High Court Act, the Central Government was empowered to appoint a date by a notification in the official gazette, establishing a High Court for the Union Territory of Delhi. The appointed date was 31 October 1966.
The High Court of Delhi initially exercised jurisdiction not only over the Union Territory of Delhi, but also Himachal Pradesh. The High Court of Delhi had a Himachal Pradesh Bench at Shimla in a building called Ravenswood. The High Court of Delhi continued to exercise jurisdiction over Himachal Pradesh until the State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970 came into force on 25 January 1971.
Former Chief Justices Of Delhi High Court
# | Chief Justices | Tenure | |
---|---|---|---|
Start | End | ||
1 | K. S. Hegde | 31 October 1966 | 16 July 1967 |
– | M K M Ismail | 17 July 1967 | 13 November 1967 |
2 | I. D. Dua | 14 November 1967 | 1 August 1969 |
3 | H. R. Khanna | 1 August 1969 | 22 September 1971 |
4 | Hardayal Hardy | 22 September 1971 | 15 May 1972 |
5 | Narain Andley | 15 May 1972 | 4 June 1974 |
6 | T. V. R. Tatachari | 4 June 1974 | 16 October 1978 |
7 | V. S. Deshpande | 16 October 1978 | 27 March 1980 |
8 | Prakash Narain | 8 January 1981 | 6 August 1985 |
9 | Rajinder Sachar | 6 August 1985 | 22 December 1985 |
10 | D. K. Kapur | 22 December 1985 | 20 August 1986 |
11 | T.P.S. Chawla | 20 August 1986 | 16 August 1987 |
– | R. N. Aggarwal (acting) | 16 August 1987 | 21 August 1987 |
12 | Yogeshwar Dayal | 21 August 1987 | 18 March 1988 |
13 | Rabindranath Pyne | 18 March 1988 | 28 September 1990 |
14 | Milap Chand Jain | 28 November 1990 | 21 July 1991 |
15 | G. C. Mittal | 5 August 1991 | 4 March 1994 |
16 | M. Jagannadha Rao | 12 April 1994 | 21 March 1997 |
17 | Mahinder Narain | 21 March 1997 | 30 December 1999 |
18 | Sam Nariman Variava | 31 December 1999 | 15 March 2000 |
19 | Arijit Pasayat | 10 May 2000 | 19 October 2001 |
20 | S.B. Sinha | 26 November 2001 | 1 October 2002 |
21 | B. C. Patel | 5 March 2003 | 7 August 2005 |
22 | Markandey Katju | 12 October 2005 | 10 April 2006 |
23 | Mukundakam Sharma | 4 December 2006 | 9 April 2008 |
24 | Ajit Prakash Shah | 11 May 2008 | 12 February 2010 |
25 | Dipak Misra | 24 May 2010 | 10 October 2011 |
26 | D Murugesan | 26 September 2012 | 10 June 2013 |
– | Badar Durrez Ahmed (acting) | 10 June 2013 | 1 September 2013 |
27 | N. V. Ramana | 2 September 2013 | 16 February 2014 |
– | Badar Durrez Ahmed (acting) | 17 February 2014 | 20 April 2014 |
28 | G. Rohini | 21 April 2014 | 13 April 2017 |
– | Gita Mittal (acting) | 14 April 2017 | 10 August 2018 |
29 | Rajendra Menon | 11 August 2018 | Incumbent |