Jharkhand High Court

Jharkhand High Court
Jharkhand High Court building
Interactive map of Jharkhand High Court
23°18′52″N 85°16′12″E / 23.3144°N 85.2700°E / 23.3144; 85.2700
Established15 November 2000 (2000-11-15)
Jurisdiction Jharkhand
LocationRanchi, Jharkhand
Coordinates23°18′52″N 85°16′12″E / 23.3144°N 85.2700°E / 23.3144; 85.2700
Composition methodPresidential appointment with confirmation of the Chief Justice of India and Governor of respective state.
Authorised byConstitution of India
Appeals toSupreme Court of India
Judge term lengthMandatory retirement at age 62
Number of positions25
Websitejharkhandhighcourt.nic.in
Chief Justice
CurrentlyM. S. Sonak
Since9 January 2026

Jharkhand High Court is the High Court for the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was established on 15 November 2000, following the bifurcation of the state of Bihar and succeeded the jurisdiction previously exercised by the Patna High Court over the region.[1] Since 24 May 2023, the High Court has been functioning from a newly constructed complex at Dhurwa, Ranchi, which was inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu.[2] The campus is spread across 165 acres, making it the largest High Court complex in India by area.[3][4]

History

Old building of Jharkhand High Court at Doranda, Ranchi
Aerial view of the new Jharkhand High Court building, functioning since 24 May 2023

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, under the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000.

In 2013, the Government of Jharkhand approved plans for a new High Court complex at Dhurwa, Ranchi, in view of the growing caseload and limited capacity of the old building at Doranda. Construction began in 2015 on an area of about 165 acres, of which 72 acres were earmarked for the main court complex. The foundation stone was laid with the aim of creating a modern judicial infrastructure and work continued for nearly eight years.

The new building of the Jharkhand High Court was inaugurated by the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, on 24 May 2023 in the presence of the Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, and other dignitaries.[2][5] Spread over 165 acres, it is the largest High Court complex in India by area. The project was built at an estimated cost of around ₹550 crore for construction, while including land acquisition and associated facilities, the overall cost has been estimated at close to ₹1,000 crore.[6]

The main structure contains 25 air-conditioned courtrooms with adjoining judges’ chambers, ante rooms and waiting areas. The Chief Justice’s block includes a video conference hall, kitchen, dining area and a large conference room. For the Bar, the complex provides two large halls with a combined capacity of 1,660 advocates, 76 senior advocate chambers with attached toilets and pantries, 369 additional lawyer chambers, recreation halls for men and women, clerks’ halls and a bar room. The central lobby measures nearly 14,000 square feet.[7]

Supporting infrastructure includes 12 conference rooms, registrar chambers, offices for the Advocate General and public prosecutors, auditoriums, committee halls, typist blocks, dispensaries, barracks and two canteens. The complex also provides parking space for about 2,000 vehicles and is under surveillance with more than 500 CCTV cameras. Built with sustainable features, the new campus has a 2,000 KVA solar system that supplies about 40% of its power needs, a sewage treatment plant of 200 KLD capacity to recycle water, and more than 4,400 trees planted within the grounds.[8] The entire facility is designed as a modern judicial hub combining functionality, security, and environmental sustainability.[9]

Chief Justice and Judges

Jharkhand High Court is permitted to have a maximum of 25 judges of which 20 may be permanently appointed and 5 may be additionally appointed. Currently, it has 15 judges.[10]

Justice Mahesh Sharadchandra Sonak is the current Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court, having assumed office on 9 January 2026.[11]

List of Former Chief Justices

No. Chief Justice Term start Term end
Patna High Court
1 Sir Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller 31 October 1917 31 March 1928
2 Sir Courtney Terrell 31 March 1928 6 May 1938
3 Sir Arther Trevor Harries 10 October 1938 19 January 1943
4 Sir Syed Fazl Ali 19 January 1943 14 October 1946
5 Sir Clifford Monmohan Agarwala 9 January 1948 24 January 1950
6 Sir Herbert Ribton Meredith 25 January 1950 8 April 1950
7 Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha 8 April 1950 1 June 1952
8 David Ezra Reuben 1 June 1952 2 September 1953
9 Syed Jafar Imam 3 September 1953 10 January 1955
10 Sudhansu Kumar Das 10 January 1955 30 April 1956
11 Vaidyanathier Ramaswami 30 April 1956 4 January 1965
12 Ramaswamy Lakshmi Narasimhan 4 January 1965 2 August 1968
13 Satish Chandra Mishra 9 November 1968 5 September 1970
14 Ujjal Narayan Sinha 5 September 1970 29 September 1972
15 Nand Lall Untwalia 29 September 1972 3 October 1974
16 Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh 3 October 1974 1 May 1976
17 Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh 19 July 1976 12 March 1982
18 Surjit Singh Sandhawalia 29 November 1983 27 July 1987
19 Bhagwati Prasad Jha 2 January 1988 2 January 1988
20 Dipak Kumar Sen 1 May 1988 1 May 1989
21 Shushil Kumar Jha 19 October 1989 23 October 1989
22 Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani 24 October 1989 17 December 1990
23 Bimal Chandra Basak 18 March 1991 21 October 1994
24 K. S. Paripoornan 24 January 1994 11 June 1994
25 K. Venkataswamy 19 September 1994 6 March 1995
26 G.P. Patnaik 19 May 1995 11 September 1995
27 D.P. Wadhwa 29 September 1995 21 March 1997
28 B.M. Lal 29 September 1995 6 October 1999
29 Ravi S. Dhavan 6 October 1999 15 November 2000
# Portrait Chief Justice Term start Term end
Jharkhand High Court
1 Vinod Kumar Gupta 5 December 2000 4 March 2003
2 P. K. Balasubramanyan 10 March 2003 26 August 2004
-- S. J. Mukhopadhaya 26 August 2004 28 February 2005
3 Altamas Kabir 1 March 2005 8 September 2005
4 Nelavoy Dhinakar 4 December 2005 9 June 2006
-- S. J. Mukhopadhaya 10 June 2006 16 September 2006
-- M.Y. Eqbal 17 September 2006 17 September 2006
5 M. Karpaga Vinayagam 17 September 2006 15 May 2008
6 Gyan Sudha Misra 13 July 2008 30 April 2010
-- Sushil Harkauli 1 May 2010 21 August 2010
7 Bhagwati Prasad 22 August 2010 12 May 2011
-- Prakash Chandra Tatia 13 May 2011 10 September 2011
8 Prakash Chandra Tatia 11 September 2011 3 August 2013
-- Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel 4 August 2013 15 November 2013
9 R. Banumathi 16 November 2013 12 August 2014
-- Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel 13 August 2014 31 October 2014
10 Virender Singh 1 November 2014 6 October 2016
-- Pradip Kumar Mohanty 7 October 2016 23 March 2017
11 Pradip Kumar Mohanty 24 March 2017 9 June 2017
-- Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel 10 June 2017 10 August 2018
12 Aniruddha Bose 11 August 2018 23 May 2019
-- Dhirubhai Naranbhai Patel 24 May 2019 6 June 2019
-- Prashant Kumar 7 June 2019 30 August 2019
-- Harish Chandra Mishra 30 August 2019 16 November 2019
13 Ravi Ranjan 17 November 2019 19 December 2022
-- Aparesh Kumar Singh 20 December 2022 19 February 2023
14 Sanjaya Kumar Mishra 20 February 2023 28 December 2023
-- Shree Chandrashekhar 29 December 2023 4 July 2024
15 Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi 5 July 2024 19 July 2024
-- Sujit Narayan Prasad 20 July 2024 24 September 2024
16 M. S. Ramachandra Rao 25 September 2024 21 July 2025
-- Sujit Narayan Prasad 22 July 2025 22 July 2025
17 Tarlok Singh Chauhan 23 July 2025 8 January 2026
18 M. S. Sonak 9 January 2026 Incumbent

Judges elevated as Chief Justices

This sections contains list of only those judges elevated as chief justices whose parent high court is Jharkhand. This includes those judges who, at the time of appointment as chief justice, may not be serving in Jharkhand High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of appointment as chief justice were serving in Jharkhand High Court but does not have Jharkhand as their Parent High Court.[12]

Name Image Appointed as CJ in HC of Date of appointment Date of retirement[a] Tenure
As Judge As Chief Justice As Chief Justice As Judge[b]
Mokhtarajama Yusuf Eqbal Madras 9 May 1996[c] 11 June 2010 23 December 2012[‡] 2 years, 196 days 16 years, 229 days
Rakesh Ranjan Prasad Manipur 27 February 2006 22 September 2016 30 June 2017 282 days 11 years, 124 days
Aparesh Kumar Singh Tripura, transferred to Telangana 24 January 2012 17 April 2023 Incumbent 3 years, 134 days 14 years, 217 days
Shree Chandrashekhar Bombay 17 January 2013 5 September 2025 1 June 2026[‡] 270 days 13 years, 136 days

Judges appointed as Acting Chief Justice

Name Appointed as ACJ in HC of Date of appointment as Judge Period as Acting Chief Justice Date of retirement[a] Tenure as ACJ Tenure as Judge Remarks Ref..
M. Y. Eqbal Jharkhand 9 May 1996 29 Aug 2006 – 16 Sep 2006 23 December 2012[‡] 19 days 16 years, 229 days -- [13]
16 May 2008 – 12 Jul 2008 58 days [14]
1 May 2010 – 10 Jun 2010 41 days Elevated as CJ of Madras [15]
R. R. Prasad Manipur 27 February 2006 10 Jun 2016 – 21 Sep 2016 30 June 2017 104 days 11 years, 124 days Became permanent [16]
Prashant Kumar Jharkhand 21 January 2009 7 Jun 2019 – 30 Aug 2019 30 August 2019[†] 85 days 10 years, 222 days Died in office [17]
H. C. Mishra Jharkhand 27 April 2011 30 Aug 2019 – 16 Nov 2019 26 March 2021 79 days 9 years, 334 days -- [18]
A. K. Singh Jharkhand 24 January 2012 20 Dec 2022 – 19 Feb 2023 Incumbent 62 days 14 years, 217 days [19]
Shree Chandrashekhar Jharkhand 17 January 2013 29 Dec 2023 – 4 Jul 2024 1 June 2026[‡] 189 days 13 years, 136 days Transferred to Rajasthan [20]
Bombay 29 Aug 2025 – 4 Sep 2025 7 days Became permanent
Sujit Narayan Prasad Jharkhand 26 September 2014 20 Jul 2024 – 24 Sep 2024 Incumbent 67 days 11 years, 337 days -- [21]
22 Jul 2025 1 day
  1. 1 2 this includes date of resignation, death and elevation to supreme court
  2. ↑ also includes tenure as Chief Justice
  3. ↑ He was initially appointed as judge in Patna High Court but after establishment of Jharkhand High Court on 15 November 2000, he opted for Jharkhand High Court as his parent high court

Judges elevated to Supreme Court

This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Jharkhand. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Jharkhand High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Jharkhand High Court but does not have Jharkhand as their Parent High Court.

# Name of the Judge Image Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Immediately preceding office
In Parent High Court In Supreme Court In High Court(s) In Supreme Court Total tenure[a]
1 Mokhtarajama Yusuf Eqbal 9 May 1996 24 December 2012 12 February 2016 16 years, 229 days 3 years, 51 days 19 years, 280 days 36th CJ of Madras HC
2 Shree Chandrashekhar 17 January 2013 2 June 2026 Incumbent 13 years, 136 days 88 days 13 years, 224 days 49th CJ of Bombay HC
  1. ↑ Includes both tenure as High Court Judge as well as Supreme Court Judge

Judges of Jharkhand High Court who served as Chief Justice of India

CJIs whose Parent High Court was not Jharkhand but they served in Jharkhand
# Name of the Chief Justice Image Date of Appointment as Chief Justice Date of Retirement Tenure Appointed By Date of elevation to Supreme Court

Nominated by

Total tenure in Supreme Court (including as CJI) Tenure in Jharkhand High Court Immediately preceding office
1 Altamas Kabir 29 September 2012 18 July 2013 293 days Pranab Mukherjee 9 September 2005

Ramesh Chandra Lahoti

 7 years, 314 days 1 May 2005 – 8 September 2005
(130 days)		 Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court

References

  1. ↑ "High Court of Jharkhand, India". jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Droupadi Murmu inaugurates country's largest High Court in Jharkhand". Hindustan Times. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  3. ↑ "PRESIDENT OF INDIA INAUGURATES NEW BUILDING OF THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND". www.pib.gov.in. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  4. ↑ "President Murmu inaugurates new Jharkhand High Court building". Deccan Herald. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  5. ↑ "Prez to open new HC bldg on May 24". The Times of India. 17 May 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  6. ↑ "Jharkhand's new HC complex biggest in the country by area: Few things to know". The Indian Express. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  7. ↑ "Jharkhand's new HC complex biggest in the country by area: Few things to know". The Indian Express. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "President Draupadi Murmu to inaugurate country's 'largest' high court in Jharkhand | Know Details". India TV News. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  9. ↑ "President Draupadi Murmu to inaugurate country's 'largest' high court on May 24". Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  10. ↑ "SITTING JUDGES OF HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND | High Court of Jharkhand, India". jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  11. ↑ PTI (9 January 2026). "Justice Mahesh Sharadchandra Sonak sworn in as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  12. ↑ "High Court of Jharkhand, India". jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  13. ↑ "Chief justice sworn in". The Telegraph. India. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  14. ↑ "Reading material of JHALSA" (PDF). Jharkhand legal services authority. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  15. ↑ "Justice M.Y. Eqbal | Supreme Court of India | India". www.sci.gov.in. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  16. ↑ Sucheta (3 June 2016). "Shri Justice Rakesh Ranjan Prasad, senior-most Judge of the Manipur High Court appointed to perform the duties of Chief Justice of same High Court". SCC Times. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  17. ↑ "High Court of Jharkhand, India". jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  18. ↑ "High Court of Jharkhand, India". jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  19. ↑ "High Court of Jharkhand, India". jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  20. ↑ "High Court of Jharkhand, India". jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  21. ↑ "High Court of Jharkhand, India". jharkhandhighcourt.nic.in. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
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