# Patna High Court

The High Court of Judicature at Patna (commonly known as Patna High Court) is the High Court of the state of Bihar. It was established on 3 February 1916 by British colonial government and was later affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915, making it one of the oldest High Courts of India.
The court is based in Patna, the administrative capital of the state of Bihar, India.

## History of the court

A proclamation for setting up the court was issued by the governor-general of India on 22 March 1912. The foundation-stone of the High Court Building was laid on 1 December 1913 by Viceroy and Governor-General of India Sir Charles Hardinge of Penshurst. The Patna High Court building on its completion was formally opened by the same viceroy on 3 February 1916. Official work commenced on 1 March 1916. Sir Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier was the first chief justice of the court.
In 1948, the Patna High Court exercised jurisdiction over the territories of the Province of Bihar & Orissa until 26 July 1948, when a separate high court was constituted for Orissa. The Patna High Court opened a circuit bench at Ranchi in 1972. In 1976, the circuit bench of the Patna High Court at Ranchi became a permanent bench. In November 2000, under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000, the circuit bench of the Patna High Court at Ranchi became the Jharkhand High Court.
Starting 18 April 2015, the Patna High Court planned a year-long centenary celebration of 100 years of establishment, and the occasion was inaugurated by the president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, and was chaired by the governor of Bihar, Keshari Nath Tripathi; the chief justice of India, H. L. Dattu; and the chief justice of the Patna High Court, L. Narasimha Reddy.

## Prominent judges of the Patna High Court

* Hon. Ms. Justice Rekha Doshit was the chief justice of the Patna High Court and the first woman to hold this office.
* Hon. Sir Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier is the first chief justice of the Patna High Court.
* Hon. Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha was the first Indian chief justice of the Patna High Court after independence.
* Hon. Mrs. Justice Indu Prabha Singh, the first lady judge of the Patna High Court, holds the distinction of being the first woman judge to hold court at the Patna High Court and its Ranchi Bench.
* Hon. Mrs. Justice Gyan Sudha Misra, the second lady judge of the Patna High Court, is the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India from Bihar.
* The high court has given two chief justices of India.
** Hon. Mr. Justice Bhuvneshwar Prasad Sinha, the 6th chief justice of India.
** Hon. Mr. Justice Lalit Mohan Sharma, the 24th chief justice of India.

## Judges

The following have served as judges of the court.
| S.No. | Judge name | Designation | Date of elevation | Date of retirement | Source of recruitment | Remarks |
| 1 | Ashutosh Kumar | Judge (ACJ) | 15 May 2014 | 30 September 2028 | Bar | Transferred to Delhi High Court on 7 January 2015, and back to Patna High Court on 24-11-17. |
| 2 | Vipul M. Pancholi | Judge | 1 October 2014 | 27 May 2030 | Bar | |
| 3 | PavanKumar Bhimappa Banjanthri | Judge | 2 January 2015 | 22 October 2025 | Bar | |
| 4 | Rajeev Ranjan Prasad | Judge | 22 May 2017 | 4 September 2028 | Bar | |
| 5 | Mohit Kumar Shah | Judge | 22 May 2017 | 25 April 2031 | Bar |
| 6 | Arvind Singh Chandel | Judge | 27 June 2017 | 31 August 2025 | Service | Transferred to Patna High Court from Chhatisgarh High Court on 08 June 2024 |
| 7 | Bibek Chaudhuri | Judge | 12 October 2018 | 31 October 2026 | Bar | |
| 8 | Nani Tagia | Judge | 19 November 2018 | 15 May 2031 | Bar | |
| 9 | Anjani Kumar Sharan | Judge | 17 April 2019 | 9 April 2025 | Bar | |
| 10 | Anil Kumar Sinha | Judge | 17 April 2019 | 18 June 2027 | Bar | |
| 11 | Prabhat Kumar Singh | Judge | 17 April 2019 | 1 January 2029 | Bar | |
| 12 | Partha Sarthy | Judge | 17 April 2019 | 21 October 2031 | Bar | |
| 13 | A. Abhishek Reddy | Judge | 26 August 2019 | 6 November 2029 | Bar | |
| 14 | Nawneet Kumar Pandey | Judge | 7 October 2021 | 28 February 2026 | Service | |
| 15 | Sandeep Kumar | Judge | 20 October 2021 | 19 January 2029 | Bar | |
| 16 | Purnendu Singh | Judge | 20 October 2021 | 3 February 2029 | Bar | |
| 17 | Satyavrat Verma | Judge | 20 October 2021 | 5 December 2030 | Bar | |
| 18 | Rajesh Kumar Verma | Judge | 20 October 2021 | 11 December 2031 | Bar | |
| 19 | Gunnu Anupama Chakravarthy | Judge | 24 March 2022 | 20 March 2030 | Service | |
| 20 | Rajiv Roy | Judge | 29 March 2022 | 31 October 2027 | Bar | |
| 21 | Harish Kumar | Judge | 29 March 2022 | 9 January 2037 | Bar | |
| 22 | Shailendra Singh | Judge | 4 June 2022 | 3 June 2034 | Service | |
| 23 | Arun Kumar Jha | Judge | 4 June 2022 | 16 October 2033 | Service | |
| 24 | Jitendra Kumar | Judge | 4 June 2022 | 1 November 2031 | Service | |
| 25 | Alok Kumar Pandey | Judge | 4 June 2022 | 31 August 2033 | Service | |
| 26 | Sunil Dutta Mishra | Judge | 4 June 2022 | 19 December 2029 | Service | |
| 27 | Chandra Prakash Singh | Judge | 4 June 2022 | 22 December 2025 | Service | |
| 28 | Chandra Shekhar Jha | Judge | 4 June 2022 | 31 December 2030 | Service | |
| 29 | Khatim Reza | Judge | 5 June 2022 | 4 December 2028 | Bar | |
| 30 | Dr. Anshuman | Judge | 5 June 2022 | 10 June 2031 | Bar | |
| 31 | Rudra Prakash Mishra | Judge | 4 November 2023 | 14 February 2034 | Service | |
| 32 | Ramesh Chand Malviya | Judge | 4 November 2023 | 30 June 2027 | Service | |
| 33 | Shashi Bhushan Prasad Singh | Judge | 4 October 2024 | 15 January 2027 | Service | |
| 34 | Ashok Kumar Pandey | Judge | 4 October 2024 | 16 September 2028 | Service | |
| 35 | Alok Kumar Sinha | Judge | 8 March 2025 | | Bar | |
| 36 | Sourendra Pandey | Judge | 8 March 2025 | | Bar | |
| 37 | Soni Shrivastava | Judge | 8 March 2025 | | Bar | |

## Former chief justices

The following have served as chief justices of the court.
| Chief justice | From | To | Comments |
| Hon. Krishnan Vinod Chandran | 27 March 2023 | 15 January 2025 | Transferred from Kerala High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India |
| Hon. Sanjay Karol | 11 November 2019 | 5 February 2023 | Transferred from Tripura High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India |
| Hon. Amreshwar Pratap Sahi | 17 November 2018 | 10 November 2019 | Transferred from Allahabad High Court. Transferred to Madras High Court as its Chief Justice |
| Hon. Mukesh Shah | 12 August 2018 | 1 November 2018 | Transferred from Gujarat High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India |
| Hon. Rajendra Menon | 15 March 2017 | 8 August 2018 | Transferred from Madhya Pradesh High Court. Transferred to Delhi High Court as its Chief Justice |
| Hon. Iqbal Ahmed Ansari | 29 August 2016 | 28 October 2016 |
| Hon. L. Narasimha Reddy | 2 January 2015 | 31 July 2015 |
| Hon. Rekha Manharlal Doshit | 21 June 2010 | 13 December 2014 | Transferred from Gujarat High Court |
| Hon. Shri Dipak Misra | 23 December 2009 | 24 June 2010 | Elevated to Supreme Court on 10 October 2011. Took oath as Chief Justice of India on 28 August 2017 |
| Hon. Shri Prafulla Kumar Mishra | 12 August 2009 | 16 September 2009 | |
| Hon. Shri J. B. Koshy | 16 March 2009 | 12 May 2009 | |
| Hon. Shri R.M. Lodha | 13 May 2008 | 16 December 2008 |
| Hon. Shri Rajesh Balia | 5 January 2008 | 3 March 2008 |
| Hon. Dr. J.N. Bhatt | 18 July 2005 | 16 October 2007 |
| Hon. Shri Ravi S. Dhavan | 25 January 2000 | 22 July 2004 |
| Hon. Shri B.M. Lal | 9 July 1997 | 6 October 1999 |
| Hon. Shri D.P. Wadhwa | 29 September 1995 | 21 March 1997 |
| Hon. Shri G.P. Patnaik | 19 May 1995 | 11 September 1995 |
| Hon. Shri K. Venkataswamy | 19 September 1994 | 6 March 1995 |
| Hon. Shri K. S. Paripoornan | 24 January 1994 | 11 June 1994 |
| Hon. Shri Bimal Chandra Basak | 18 March 1991 | 21 October 1994 |
| Hon. Shri Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani | 24 October 1989 | 17 December 1990 |
| Hon. Shri Shushil Kumar Jha | 19 October 1989 | 23 October 1989 |
| Hon. Shri Dipak Kumar Sen | 1 May 1988 | 1 May 1989 |
| Hon. Shri Bhagwati Prasad Jha | 2 January 1988 | 2 January 1988 |
| Hon. Shri Surjit Singh Sandhawalia | 29 November 1983 | 27 July 1987 |
| Hon. Shri Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh | 19 July 1976 | 12 March 1982 |
| Hon. Shri Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh | 3 October 1974 | 1 May 1976 |
| Hon. Shri Nand Lall Untwalia | 29 September 1972 | 3 October 1974 |
| Hon. Shri Ujjal Narayan Sinha | 5 September 1970 | 29 September 1972 |
| Hon. Shri Satish Chandra Mishra | 9 November 1968 | 5 September 1970 |
| Hon. Shri Ramaswamy Lakshmi Narasimhan | 4 January 1965 | 2 August 1968 |
| Hon. Shri Vaidyanathier Ramaswami | 30 April 1956 | 4 January 1965 |
| Hon. Shri Sudhansu Kumar Das | 10 January 1955 | 30 April 1956 |
| Hon. Shri Syed Jafar Imam | 3 September 1953 | 10 January 1955 |
| Hon. Shri David Ezra Reuben | 1 June 1952 | 2 September 1953 |
| Hon. Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha | 8 April 1950 | 1 June 1952 |
| Hon. Sir Herbert Ribton Meredith | 25 January 1950 | 8 April 1950 |
| Hon. Sir Clifford Monmohan Agarwala | 9 January 1948 | 24 January 1950 |
| Hon. Sir Syed Fazl Ali | 19 January 1943 | 14 October 1946 |
| Hon. Sir Arthur Trevor Harries | 10 October 1938 | 19 January 1943 |
| Hon. Sir Courtney Terrell | 31 March 1928 | 6 May 1938 |
| Hon. Sir Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller | 31 October 1917 | 31 March 1928 |
| Hon. Sir Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier | 1 March 1916 | 30 October 1917 |