Calcutta High Court

Calcutta High Court
কলকাতা উচ্চ আদালত
Calcutta High Court building
22°34′6″N 88°20′36″E / 22.56833°N 88.34333°E / 22.56833; 88.34333
Established	1 July 1862; 162 years ago (1862-07-01)
Jurisdiction	West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Location	Principal Seat: Kolkata, West Bengal Circuit Benches: Jalpaiguri & Port Blair (A & N Islands)
Coordinates	22°34′6″N 88°20′36″E / 22.56833°N 88.34333°E / 22.56833; 88.34333
Composition method	Presidential with confirmation of Chief Justice of India and Governor of respective state.
Authorized by	Constitution of India
Judge term length	Till 62 years of age
Number of positions	98 {78 Permanent ; 28 Addl.}
Website	calcuttahighcourt.gov.in
Chief Justice
Currently	T. S. Sivagnanam
Since	11 May 2023

The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India.^[1] It is located at Esplanade Row West, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court building's design is somewhat based on the Lakenhal (Cloth Hall) in Ypres in Flanders, Belgium.^[2]

Currently, the court has a sanctioned judge strength of 98.

The Calcutta High Court is one of the three High Courts in India established at the Presidency Towns by Letters patent granted by Queen Victoria, bearing date 26 June 1862, and is the oldest High Court in India. It was established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William on 1 July 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861, which was preceded by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William. The building structure was designed by Walter Long Bozzi Granville.

Despite the name of the city having officially changed from Calcutta to Kolkata in 2001, the Court, as an institution retained the old name. The bill to rename it as Kolkata High Court was approved by the Union Cabinet on 5 July 2016 along with the renaming of its two other counterparts in Chennai and Mumbai.^[3] The Bill called High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 19 July 2016^[4] and is yet to be passed by both Houses of Parliament. Hence, the High Court still retains the old name.

The seat of the Calcutta High Court is at Kolkata, capital of West Bengal. As per the Calcutta High Court (Extension of Jurisdiction) Act, 1953, the Calcutta High Court's jurisdiction was extended to cover Chandernagore (now called Chandannagar) and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as of 2 May 1950. The Calcutta High Court extended its Circuit Bench in Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in Jalpaiguri, the divisional headquarters of the North Bengal region. On 7 February 2019, President Ram Nath Kovind finalised the opening of the other circuit bench in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal with the jurisdiction area^[5] within 5 districts- Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar.

The current Chief Justice of the court is Justice T. S. Sivagnanam. ^[6] Sir Barnes Peacock was the first Chief Justice of the High Court. He assumed the charge when the court was founded on 1 July 1862. Justice Romesh Chandra Mitra was the first Indian officiating Chief Justice and Justice Phani Bhushan Chakravartti was the first Indian permanent Chief Justice of the court. The longest-serving Chief Justice was Justice Sankar Prasad Mitra.

For chief justices of the previous Supreme Court of Bengal see Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William.

The court has a Sanctioned strength of 72 (Permanent:54, Additional:18) judges.

Judges Elevated to the Supreme Court of India-

Judges Transferred/Elevated from the Calcutta High Court-

Sitting Judges of Calcutta High Court-

The neo-Gothic High Court building was constructed in 1872, ten years after the establishment of the court itself. The design, by then government architect Walter Granville, was loosely modelled on the 13th-century Cloth Hall at Ypres, Belgium.^[2] In 1977 another building named High Court Centenary Building or annexed building was inaugurated to reduce the pressure.^[7]

Eden Gardens railway station is the nearest railway station, which is 650 meters away from the court. Esplanade metro station, the nearest rapid rail transit is 1.3 km away.^{[citation needed]}

• Media related to Calcutta High Court at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Former official website (archived 6 March 2007)
• Judge strength in High Courts increased