# Karnataka High Court

The High Court of Karnataka (IAST: Karnāṭaka Ućća Nyāyālaya, commonly referred to as the Karnataka High Court and formerly known as the Mysore High Court, is the highest judicial authority of the Indian state of Karnataka. The court's principal bench is located in Bengaluru, the capital city of Karnataka, with additional benches in Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi. In Bengaluru, the High Court operates from a red-painted brick building known as the Attara Kacheri, located opposite the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the Karnataka Legislature.

## Composition

The High Court is composed of the Chief Justice of Karnataka and other judges, who are appointed by the President of India. As of February 2022, there are 45 judges in the High Court, out of a sanctioned maximum strength of 62. Nilay Vipinchandra Anjaria has been the Chief Justice since 25 February 2024.

## Powers and jurisdiction

The High Court is the highest judicial authority within the State of Karnataka. It has superintendence over all courts and tribunals, such as district courts, operating within Karnataka, except those of the armed forces. Appeals against judgments of lower courts, such as district-level civil and sessions courts, are heard in the High Court. Appeals against judgments of the High Court are heard by the Supreme Court of India.
The High Court is a court of record and has the authority to prosecute for contempt of itself.
The Karnataka High Court has two permanent benches at Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi. The permanent bench at Hubballi-Dharwada became operational on 24 August 2013 and Kalaburagi bench became operational on 31 August 2013. Prior to the establishment of permanent benches, Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi had circuit benches of Karnataka High Court starting in 2008. The Hubballi-Dharwada bench was inaugurated by then Chief Justice of India K.G.Balakrishnan on 4 July 2008 and became operational on 7 July 2008.

## Premises

The High Court's principal bench is located in Bengaluru, in a building called the Attara Kacheri. It is a two-storry building made of stone and brick, painted red, in the neoclassical style of architecture. The building was constructed between 1864 and 1868 and is located in Bengaluru's Cubbon Park.
There was a proposal to demolish this building in the year 1982. A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the High Court to prevent demolition. This was the first PIL ever filed in the court, and the case was heard in the same building that was supposed to be demolished. The petition was dismissed by the High Court, but in 1985 the proposal to demolish the building was dropped after the Supreme Court directed the state government to reconsider demolition.

### Heritage

Lord Cubbon, the then Viceroy of Colonial India was responsible for building Attara Kacheri. The building features Greco-Roman styled architecture with red paint and a sprawling expansive layout, marked by a distinguished central structure. A portion of the High Court building served as Attara Kacheri, during the Mysore Kingdom era, housing various public offices.
The entrance of the Attara Kacheri building now faces the side opposite to the Vidhana Soudha, which was originally the rear side of the former Attara Kacheri. Over a hundred years later, when the building became the High Court, it began to show signs of age and wear. This led to the proposal for its demolition during the tenure of Kengal Hanumanthaiah and again in 1984, when there was a plan to replace it with a new structure. These proposals faced significant protests from citizens who opposed dismantling the colonial-era building.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed, but the High Court dismissed the petition. The case was subsequently taken to the Supreme Court. In consideration of the public concerns, the government decided not to demolish the building but instead to renovate and expand it to meet modern needs. The government of Karnataka assigned the task to the engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD). Preparations began in 1986 to renovate the old structure and add a new parallel block, designed in the same style as the original Attara Kacheri.
In 1990s, the Karnataka Government successfully rejuvenated the Attara Kacheri building, adding new blocks alongside the existing structure. The old building was reinforced to accommodate the updated requirements. The Northern Block was formally Inaugurated by Lokayuktha Venkatachala, with a plaque installed during the event.

## Notable judges

Judges of the Karnataka High Court, including E. S. Venkataramiah, M. N. Venkatachaliah, S. Rajendra Babu and H.L. Dattu, later went on to become Chief Justices of India. Additionally, several other judges, such as Kalmanje Jagannatha Shetty, N. Venkatachala, R. V. Raveendran, Shivaraj Patil, Venkate Gopala Gowda, A.S Bopanna, Mohan Shantanagoudar, S. Abdul Nazeer, A. S. Oka, B. V. Nagarathna and Aravind Kumar were appointed to the Supreme Court of India.

### Chief Justices

P. Mahadevayya, M. Sadasivayya, Nittoor Srinivasa Rau, Sam Piroj Bharucha and G. T. Nanavati were among the notable Chief Justices who presided over this court.

### List of former Chief Justices
#### High Court of Mysore

| N | Chief Justice | Term |
| 1 | Charles George Plumer | 1884 – July 1890 |
| 2 | Sir T. R. A. Thumboo Chetty | July 1890 – 4 November 1895 |
| 3 | James William Best | 4 November 1895 – 1907 |
| 4 | Stanley Ismay | 1908–1912 |
| 5 | P. Mahadevayya | 1931–1934 |
| 6 | Justice Palecanda Belliappa Medapa | 1948 -1955 |

#### High Court of Karnataka

| # | Chief Justice | Term |
| 1 | R. Venkataramaiah | 1 November 1956 – 16 July 1957 |
| 2 | S. R. Das Gupta | 25 July 1957 – 13 August 1961 |
| 3 | Nittoor Srinivasa Rau | 29 March 1962 – 7 August 1963 |
| 4 | A. R. Somanath Iyer | 23 November 1969 – 29 December 1969 |
| 5 | M. Sadasivayya | 30 December 1969 – 16 September 1970 |
| 6 | A. Narayana Pai | 17 September 1970 – 6 June 1973 |
| 7 | G. K. Govinda Bhat | 7 June 1973 – 14 December 1977 |
| 8 | D. M. Chandrashekar | 22 March 1978 – 25 September 1982 |
| 9 | K. Bhimaiah | 28 October 1982 – 10 April 1983 |
| 10 | V. S. Malimath | 6 February 1984 – 24 October 1985 |
| 11 | Prem Chand Jain | 28 August 1986 – 16 September 1989 |
| 12 | S. Mohan | 26 October 1989 – 7 October 1991 |
| 13 | S. P. Bharucha | 1 January 1991 – 30 June 1992 |
| 14 | S. B. Majumdar | 2 July 1993 – 13 September 1994 |
| 15 | G. T. Nanavati | 28 September 1994 – 4 March 1995 |
| 16 | M. L. Pendse | 28 July 1995 – 25 March 1996 |
| 17 | S. A. Hakeem | 3 May 1996 – 9 May 1996 |
| 18 | R. P. Sethi | 29 June 1996 – 6 January 1999 |
| 19 | Y. Bhaskar Rao | 9 March 1999 – 26 June 2000 |
| 20 | P. V. Reddi | 21 October 2000 – 16 August 2001 |
| 21 | Nagendra Kumar Jain | 31 August 2001 – 20 October 2004 |
| 22 | Nauvdip Kumar Sodhi | 19 November 2004 – 29 November 2005 |
| 23 | Cyriac Joseph | 7 January 2006 – 6 July 2008 |
| 24 | P. D. Dinakaran | 8 August 2008 – 7 August 2010 |
| 25 | Jagdish Singh Khehar | 8 August 2010 – 12 September 2011 |
| 26 | Vikramajit Sen | 24 December 2011 – 24 December 2012 |
| 27 | Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela | 7 March 2013 – 1 June 2015 |
| 28 | Subhro Kamal Mukherjee | 23 February 2016– 9 October 2017 |
| 29 | Dinesh Maheshwari | 12 February 2018 – 17 January 2019 |
| 30 | Abhay Shreeniwas Oka | 10 May 2019 – 30 August 2021 |
| 31 | Ritu Raj Awasthi | 11 October 2021 – 2 July 2022 |
| 32 | Prasanna B. Varale | 15 October 2022 – 24 January 2024 |
| 33 | P. S. Dinesh Kumar | 3 February 2024 – 24 February 2024 |
| 34 | Nilay Vipinchandra Anjaria | 25 February 2024 – Incumbent |

## Chief justice and judges

The current sitting judges of the court are as follows:
| # | Name | Position | From |
| 1 | Nilay Vipinchandra Anjaria | Chief Justice | 21 November 2011 |
| 2 | K. Somashekar | Permanent Judge | 14 November 2016 |
| 3 | Kottravva Somappa Mudagal | Permanent Judge | 14 November 2016 |
| 4 | Sreenivas Harish Kumar | Permanent Judge | 14 November 2016 |
| 5 | Hosur Bhujangaraya Prabhakara Sastry | Permanent Judge | 21 February 2017 |
| 6 | Krishna Shripad Dixit | Permanent Judge | 14 February 2018 |
| 7 | Shankar Ganapathi Pandit | Permanent Judge | 14 February 2018 |
| 8 | R. Devdas | Permanent Judge | 14 February 2018 |
| 9 | Bhotanhosur Mallikarjuna Shyam Prasad | Permanent Judge | 14 February 2018 |
| 10 | Siddappa Sunil Dutt Yadav | Permanent Judge | 14 February 2018 |
| 11 | Mohammad Nawaz | Permanent Judge | 2 June 2018 |
| 12 | Harekoppa Thimmana Gowda Narendra Prasad | Permanent Judge | 2 June 2018 |
| 13 | Hethur Puttaswamygowda Sandesh | Permanent Judge | 3 November 2018 |
| 14 | Krishnan Natarajan | Permanent Judge | 3 November 2018 |
| 15 | S.R. Krishna Kumar | Permanent Judge | 23 September 2019 |
| 16 | Ashok Subhashchandra Kinagi | Permanent Judge | 23 September 2019 |
| 17 | Suraj Govindaraj | Permanent Judge | 23 September 2019 |
| 18 | Sachin Shankar Magadum | Permanent Judge | 23 September 2019 |
| 19 | Neranahalli Srinivasan Sanjay Gowda | Permanent Judge | 11 November 2019 |
| 20 | Jyoti Mulimani | Permanent Judge | 11 November 2019 |
| 21 | Nataraj Rangaswamy | Permanent Judge | 11 November 2019 |
| 22 | Hemant Chandangoudar | Permanent Judge | 11 November 2019 |
| 23 | Pradeep Singh Yerur | Permanent Judge | 11 November 2019 |
| 24 | Maheshan Nagaprasanna | Permanent Judge | 26 November 2019 |
| 25 | Maralur Indrakumar Arun | Permanent Judge | 7 January 2020 |
| 26 | Engalaguppe Seetharamaiah Indiresh | Permanent Judge | 7 January 2020 |
| 27 | Ravi Venkappa Hosmani | Permanent Judge | 7 January 2020 |
| 28 | Savanur Vishwajith Shetty | Permanent Judge | 28 April 2020 |
| 29 | Lalitha Kanneganti | Permanent Judge | 2 May 2020 |
| 30 | Shivashankar Amarannavar | Permanent Judge | 4 May 2020 |
| 31 | Makkimane Ganeshaiah Uma | Permanent Judge | 4 May 2020 |
| 32 | Vedavyasachar Srishananda | Permanent Judge | 4 May 2020 |
| 33 | Hanchate Sanjeevkumar | Permanent Judge | 4 May 2020 |
| 34 | M. G. Shukure Kamal | Permanent Judge | 17 March 2021 |
| 35 | Rajendra Badamikar | Permanent Judge | 25 March 2021 |
| 36 | Khazi Jaibunnisa Mohiuddin | Permanent Judge | 25 March 2021 |
| 37 | Chillakur Sumalatha | Permanent Judge | 15 October 2021 |
| 38 | Anant Ramanath Hegde | Permanent Judge | 8 November 2021 |
| 39 | Siddaiah Rachaiah | Additional Judge | 8 November 2021 |
| 40 | Kannakuzhyil Sreedharan Hemalekha | Permanent Judge | 8 November 2021 |
| 41 | Cheppudira Monappa Poonacha | Additional Judge | 13 June 2022 |
| 42 | Anil Bheemsen Katti | Additional Judge | 16 August 2022 |
| 43 | Gurusiddaiah Basavaraja | Additional Judge | 16 August 2022 |
| 44 | Chandrashekhar Mrutyunjaya Joshi | Additional Judge | 16 August 2022 |
| 45 | Umesh Manjunathbhat Adiga | Additional Judge | 16 August 2022 |
| 46 | Talkad Girigowda Shivashankare Gowda | Additional Judge | 16 August 2022 |
| 47 | Ramachandra Dattatray Huddar | Additional Judge | 24 January 2023 |
| 48 | Venkatesh Naik Thavaryanaik | Additional Judge | 24 January 2023 |
| 49 | Vijaykumar Adagouda Patil | Additional Judge | 9 February 2023 |
| 50 | Rajesh Rai Kallangala | Additional Judge | 9 February 2023 |
| 51 | K. V. Aravind | Additional Judge | 25 October 2023 |

## Additional Benches

The Karnataka High Court currently operates in Bengaluru, Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi. For many years there was a demand for additional benches due to the difficulty faced by people from northern regions of the state, as Bengaluru is located in the southeastern corner. This issue led to agitation, including boycott of court proceedings by lawyers in the northern region. In response, the government decided to establish circuit benches in Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi in 2006. The new benches were inaugurated on 4 and 5 July 2008, respectively. Subsequently, there was a push to make both the Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi benches permanent. As a result, the Hubballi-Dharwadaa bench became permanent on from 25 August 2013, followed by the Kalaburagi bench on 31 August 2013.

## Controversies

In late 2002, 14 newspapers and periodicals reported allegations of a sex scandal involving some judges of the Karnataka High Court in Mysore. In response, the Chief Justice formed a high-level judicial inquiry committee to investigate the matter. The committee later acquitted the judges, as no substantial evidence could be found to support the allegations.
As of 2023, approximately 2.7 lakh cases were pending in Karnataka High Court, which is facing a significant backlog. The court has struggled with delays due to challenges in adhering to the Karnataka Civil Procedure Code and delivering timely justice.
As of August 2024, approximately 20 Lakh cases are pending across the state, with the High Court serving as the final custodian of justice in these matters.