# Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court is one of the newest high courts in India. It was established in 2000. The court has jurisdiction over Jharkhand state.
The seat of the court is at Ranchi, the administrative capital of the state. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 25. The new building of the Jharkhand High Court has been approved. A 165-acre land has been granted near the HEC Industrial Complex, which will be used for the development of the high court, a residential complex for judges and lawyers chambers. The estimated cost for the project is around Rs. 460 Crores. The complex will also have an auditorium with a 1000-seat capacity, four conference rooms, eight committee meeting halls, separate building for advocate general and government pleader. The Jharkhand High Court started live proceedings of virtual hearings on YouTube on 15 December 2021. The Jharkhand High Court became sixth in the country to start live streaming of hearings on YouTube.

## History

A circuit bench of the Patna High Court was established at Ranchi on 6 March 1972 under clause 36 of the letters patent of the Patna High Court. The circuit bench became the permanent bench of the Patna High Court, by the High Court at Patna (Establishment of Permanent Bench at Ranchi) Act 1976 (Act 57 of 1976) on 8 April 1976. This permanent bench finally became the Jharkhand High Court on reorganisation of Bihar state on 15 November 2000.

## Chief Justice

Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao is the chief justice of the Jharkhand High Court since 25 September 2024.
| | Chief Justice | Term | Term |
| 30 | Ravi S. Dhavan | 6 October 1999 | 15 November 2000 |
| 29 | B.M. Lal | 29 September 1995 | 6 October 1999 |
| 28 | D.P. Wadhwa | 29 September 1995 | 21 March 1997 |
| 27 | G.P. Patnaik | 19 May 1995 | 11 September 1995 |
| 26 | K. Venkataswamy | 19 September 1994 | 6 March 1995 |
| 25 | K. S. Paripoornan | 24 January 1994 | 11 June 1994 |
| 24 | Bimal Chandra Basak | 18 March 1991 | 21 October 1994 |
| 23 | Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani | 24 October 1989 | 17 December 1990 |
| 22 | Shushil Kumar Jha | 19 October 1989 | 23 October 1989 |
| 21 | Dipak Kumar Sen | 1 May 1988 | 1 May 1989 |
| 20 | Bhagwati Prasad Jha | 2 January 1988 | 2 January 1988 |
| 19 | Surjit Singh Sandhawalia | 29 November 1983 | 27 July 1987 |
| 18 | Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh | 19 July 1976 | 12 March 1982 |
| 17 | Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh | 3 October 1974 | 1 May 1976 |
| 16 | Nand Lall Untwalia | 29 September 1972 | 3 October 1974 |
| 15 | Ujjal Narayan Sinha | 5 September 1970 | 29 September 1972 |
| 14 | Satish Chandra Mishra | 9 November 1968 | 5 September 1970 |
| 13 | Ramaswamy Lakshmi Narasimhan | 4 January 1965 | 2 August 1968 |
| 12 | Vaidyanathier Ramaswami | 30 April 1956 | 4 January 1965 |
| 11 | Sudhansu Kumar Das | 10 January 1955 | 30 April 1956 |
| 10 | Syed Jafar Imam | 3 September 1953 | 10 January 1955 |
| 9 | David Ezra Reuben | 1 June 1952 | 2 September 1953 |
| 8 | Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha | 8 April 1950 | 1 June 1952 |
| 7 | Sir Herbert Ribton Meredith | 25 January 1950 | 8 April 1950 |
| 6 | Sir Clifford Monmohan Agarwala | 9 January 1948 | 24 January 1950 |
| 5 | Sir Syed Fazl Ali | 19 January 1943 | 14 October 1946 |
| 4 | Sir Arther Trevor Harries | 10 October 1938 | 19 January 1943 |
| 3 | Sir Courtney Terrell | 31 March 1928 | 6 May 1938 |
| 2 | Sir Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller | 31 October 1917 | 31 March 1928 |
| 1 | Sir Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier | 1 March 1916 | 30 October 1917 |

## List of Chief Justices

| # | Chief Justice | Term |
| 31 | Vinod Kumar Gupta | 2000–7 March 2003 |
| 32 | P. K. Balasubramanyan | 10 March 2003–26 August 2004 |
| 33 | S. J. Mukhopadhaya | 26 August 2004–2005 |
| 34 | P. K. Balasubramanyan | 2005 —2005 |
| 35 | S. J. Mukhopadhaya | 2005 —2005 |
| 36 | Vinod Kumar Gupta | 2005 —2005 |
| 37 | Altamas Kabir | 1 March 2005–8 September 2005 |
| 38 | Nelavoy Dhinakar | 4 December 2005–10 June 2006 |
| 39 | S. J. Mukhopadhaya | 10 June 2006–2006 |
| 40 | M.Y. Eqbal | 2006–17 September 2006 |
| 41 | Nelavoy Dhinakar | 2006 —2006 |
| 42 | M.Y. Eqbal | 2006 —2006 |
| 43 | M. Karpaga Vinayagam | 2006–2008 |
| 44 | Gyan Sudha Misra | 13 July 2008–29 April 2010 |
| 45 | Sushil Harkauli | 30 April 2010–21 August 2010 |
| 46 | Bhagwati Prasad (judge) | 22 August 2010–12 May 2011 |
| 47 | Prakash Chandra Tatia | 13 May 2011–11 Sep 2011 |
| 48 | Prakash Chandra Tatia | 11 May 2011 – 12 November 2013 |
| 49 | R. Banumathi | 16 November 2013 - 13 August 2014 |
| 50 | Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel | 14 August 2014 - 31 October 2014 |
| 51 | Virender Singh | 1 November 2014 – 6 October 2016 |
| 52 | Pradip Kumar Mohanty | 7 October 2016 – 8 June 2017 |
| 53 | Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel | 9 June 2017 - 3 August 2018 |
| 54 | Aniruddha Bose | 4 August 2018 - 23 May 2019 |
| 55 | Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel | 24 May 2019 - 6 June 2019 |
| 56 | Prashant Kumar | 7 June 2019 - 30 August 2019 |
| 57 | Harish Chandra Mishra | 30 August 2019 - 16 November 2019 |
| 58 | Dr. Ravi Ranjan | 17 November 2019 - 17 November 2019 |
| 59 | Harish Chandra Mishra | 17 November 2019 -17 November 2019 |
| 60 | Ravi Ranjan | 17 November 2019 - 19 December 2022 |
| 61 | Harish Chandra Mishra | 20 December 2022 - 19 February 2023 |
| 62 | Sanjaya Kumar Mishra | 20 February 2023 - 28 December 2023 |
| 63 | Shree Chandrashekhar | 29 December 2023 - 4 July 2024 |
| 64 | Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi | 5 July 2024 - 19 July 2024 |
| 65 | Sujit Narayan Prasad | 20 July 2024 - 24 September 2024 |
| 66 | M. S. Ramachandra Rao | 25 September 2024 - "Incumbent |