Rajasthan High Court

Rajasthan High Court is an important topic under Rajasthan Polity that deals with the structure, jurisdiction, and functioning of the state’s highest judicial authority. It explains the role of the High Court in upholding the Constitution, delivering justice, and safeguarding fundamental rights. Understanding this topic helps in analyzing the judicial system, powers, and legal framework of Rajasthan.

Rajasthan High Court Background

• There are currently 25 High Courts in the country. Four of these are common High Courts. The 25th High Court was established on January 1, 2019, in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh. Delhi is the only Union Territory with its own High Court (since 1966).
• The oldest High Court in India is the Calcutta High Court which was established on July 1, 1862.
• The High Court can also hear election related cases.
• Cases for violation of fundamental rights can be heard in the Supreme Court and High Court.
• The Mumbai (Bombay) and Chennai (Madras) High Courts have the authority to hear marriage and divorce cases of Christians and Parsis under original jurisdiction.
• Cases involving wills, marriage and divorce, company law, land, taxes, and their collection can be brought directly to the High Court. Contempt of court proceedings can also be heard in the High Court.
• Original Jurisdiction: The High Court has original jurisdiction in matters of revenue and collection, and violations of fundamental rights. It also has original jurisdiction in matters of disputes concerning the election of members of Parliament and state legislatures, matters of interpretation of the Constitution, wills, marriage, divorce, company law, and contempt of court.

Articles relating to the State Judiciary

Articles 214 to 237 of the Constitution of India deal with the State Judiciary –

• The structure and functions of the High Court are described in Articles 214 to 231 in Part-6 and Chapter-5 of the Indian Constitution.
• Articles 233 to 237 in Part VI of the Constitution deal with the organisation of subordinate courts and their independence from the executive.

Article	Subject Matter
214	High Courts for the States
215	High Courts to be ‘Courts of Record’
216	Constitution of High Courts
217	Appointment and conditions of office of a Judge of a High Court
218	Application of certain provisions relating to the Supreme Court to the High Courts
219	Oath or affirmation by Judges of High Courts
220	Restrictions on legal practice after becoming a permanent judge
221	Salaries and allowances, etc., of judges
222	Transfer of a Judge from one High Court to another
223	Appointment of Acting Chief Justice
224	Appointment of Additional and Acting Judges
224A	Appointment of retired judges to the sittings of High Courts
225	Jurisdiction of existing High Courts
226	Power of High Court to issue certain writs
227	Power of the High Court to exercise superintendence over all courts
228	Transfer of certain cases to the High Court
229	Officers, servants and expenses of High Courts
230	Extension of jurisdiction of High Courts to Union Territories (UTs)
231	Establishment of a common High Court for two or more states

Article 214- High Courts for the States

• There will be a High Court for each state.

Article 215 – High Court as a court of record

• Every High Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court, including the power to punish for contempt of itself.

• The decisions given by the High Court will be exemplary for other courts.
• Other courts cannot review or criticize those decisions.
• For contempt of court, a punishment of 6 months imprisonment or a fine of Rs 2,000 or both can be given.

Article 217 – Appointment and conditions of office of Judges of High Courts: 

    (1) 

• Under this article, the Chief Justice of a High Court is appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Governor of the State concerned.
• Other judges of the High Court are appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of the High Court and the Governor of the State.
• The tenure of High Court judges is fixed till they attain the age of 62 years.
  • Note : The retirement age of a High Court judge was raised from 60 to 62 years by the 15th Constitutional Amendment, 1963.
  • The Constitution Review Commission had also recommended increasing the retirement age of judges from 62 years to 65 years.
  • But-
    • (K) A Judge may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office;
    • (b)A Judge may be removed from his office by the President in the manner provided in clause (4) of article 124 for the removal of a Judge of the Supreme Court;
  • [Note: Article 124(4) –No Judge of the Supreme Court shall be removed from his office unless on a motion for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity made by each House of Parliament by a majority of its total membership and supported by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.
    • laid before the President in the same session, the President has not given his order.]
    • (c)The office of a Judge shall become vacant on his being appointed by the President as a Judge of the Supreme Court or on his being transferred by the President to any other High Court within the territory of India.

(2) 

• No person shall be qualified for appointment as a Judge of a High Court unless he is a citizen of India and
• (K) has, for at least ten years, held a judicial office in the territory of India; or
• (b)has been an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession for at least ten years;

(3) 

• If any question arises as to the age of a Judge of a High Court, the decision of the President after consultation with the Chief Justice of India shall be final.

Article 218 – Application of certain rules relating to the Supreme Court to a High Court

• The same rules as apply to the Supreme Court in clauses (4) and (5) of Article 124 shall apply to the High Courts, provided that wherever the words “Supreme Court” are mentioned, they shall be construed as “High Courts”.
• Till now, the proceedings for removal of any judge or Chief Justice of Rajasthan have never been pending in the Parliament.

Article 124(4):

• A judge of the Supreme Court cannot be removed from his or her office unless a resolution for his or her removal on the grounds of proven misbehavior or incapacity is passed by both Houses of Parliament. This resolution must be passed by a majority of the total membership of each House and by a majority of at least two-thirds of the members present and voting. The resolution is then presented to the President in the same session, and the judge is removed from office only upon the President’s order.

Article 124(5):

• Parliament may, by law, provide for the manner in which a motion under clause (4) shall be brought and the procedure for the investigation and proof of misbehaviour or incapacity of a Judge.

Article 219 – Oath or affirmation by a Judge of a High Court

• Every person appointed to be a Judge of a High Court shall, before he enters upon his office, make and subscribe before the Governor of the State or some person appointed by the Governor, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out in the Third Schedule.

Article 220 – Restriction on practice after being reinstated as a permanent judge

• No person who, after the commencement of this Constitution, has held office as a permanent Judge of a High Court shall plead or act before any court or any authority in India except the Supreme Court and other High Courts.

Article 221 – Salaries of Judges, etc.

1. The Judges of every High Court shall be paid such salaries as Parliament may, by law, determine and, until provision in that behalf is so made, such salaries as are specified in the Second Schedule.
2. Every Judge shall be entitled to such allowances and such rights in respect of leave of absence and pension as may be determined from time to time by or under any law made by Parliament and, until such time as is so determined, to such allowances and rights as are specified in the Second Schedule.
   • Provided that the allowances of a Judge and his rights in respect of leave of absence or pension shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.

• Current monthly salary
  • Chief Justice of High Court – Rs 2.50 lakh
  • Other judges – Rs 2.25 lakh
• The salaries and allowances of judges are paid from the Consolidated Fund of the State, but the pension is paid from the Consolidated Fund of India and cannot be reduced during their tenure.

Article 222- Transfer of a Judge from one High Court to another High Court

1. The President may, on the recommendation of the National Judicial Appointments Commission as mentioned in Article 124A, transfer any judge from one High Court to another.
2. When a Judge is so transferred, he shall be entitled to receive, in addition to his salary, a compensatory allowance for the period during which he serves as a Judge of another High Court after the commencement of the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 1963. This allowance shall be fixed by Parliament by law, and until such law is made, by order by the President.

Article 223 – Appointment of acting Chief Justice

• When the office of Chief Justice of a High Court is vacant, or the Chief Justice is unable to perform his duties owing to absence or any other cause, one of the other Judges of the High Court, as the President may appoint for the purpose, shall perform the duties of that office as Acting Chief Justice.

Article 224 – Appointment of Additional and Acting Judges

1. If there is any temporary increase in the workload of a High Court or due to pending work therein, the President may appoint an additional judge of that court for a maximum period of 2 years.
2. When a Judge of a High Court, other than the Chief Justice, is, by reason of absence or otherwise, unable to perform the duties of his office or is appointed to act temporarily as Chief Justice, the President may, by order, appoint a duly qualified person to act as a Judge of that Court until the permanent Judge resumes his duties.
3. No person appointed as an Additional or Acting Judge of a High Court shall hold office after he has attained the age of sixty-two years.

Article 225 – Jurisdiction of existing High Courts

• Subject to the commencement of the Constitution and subject to any provision of this Constitution, the jurisdiction, powers and authority of a High Court which it had immediately before the commencement of the Constitution shall continue to have the same.
• These include the powers of the judges of those courts, the power to hear cases by single judges or division benches, and the power to make rules of court.

Article 226 – Power of High Court to issue certain writs

• Every High Court shall have the power to issue directions, orders or writs to any person, authority or Government within its jurisdiction.
• These writs can be in the form of Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari and Quo-Warranto.
• This power can be used to enforce fundamental rights and for any other purpose also.

Article 227 – Superintendence of High Court over all courts

• Every High Court shall have power of superintendence over all courts and tribunals within its jurisdiction.
• Under this power, the High Court:
  • may call for details from those courts
  • can make rules for them
  • It may prescribe the manner of proceedings and maintenance of records.

Article 228 – Transfer of certain cases to High Court

• If any important question relating to the interpretation of the Constitution arises in a case pending in a subordinate court, the High Court can call that case to itself.
• The High Court may decide the question and thereafter, if it deems necessary, remit the case back to the subordinate court.

Article 229 – Officers and servants and expenses of the High Court

• The officers and servants of the High Court shall be appointed by the Chief Justice or by any officer authorised by him.
• Their terms and conditions of service will be determined by the rules.
• The administrative expenses of the High Court, including salaries and allowances, shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund of the State.

Article 230 – Extension of jurisdiction of High Court to Union territory

• Parliament can by law extend or limit the jurisdiction of the High Court of a State to a Union Territory.

Article 231 – A common High Court for two or more States

• Parliament may by law provide for the establishment of a common High Court for two or more States.
• Such a High Court would function equally for those States.

Article 232 – This article has been omitted from the Constitution.

Rajasthan High Court

• At the time of Rajasthan integration (March 30, 1949) there were 5 High Courts.
  1. Jodhpur
  2. Jaipur
  3. Bikaner
  4. Alwar
  5. Udaipur (Its bench was at Kota)

Patel Committee –

• To determine the location of the state capital and the seat of the High Court.
• There were 3 members in this committee –
  1. B.R. Patel (Chairman) – then Chief Secretary, PEPSU
  2. T.C. Puri (Lt. Col.) – Director of Health Services
  3. S.P. Sinha – Superintending Engineer, PWD
• Recommendation – While submitting its report on 27 March 1949, this committee recommended that –
  • The capital of the new state will be Jaipur.
  • The High Court will be located at Jodhpur.

Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949 –

• An ordinance issued on 21 June 1949 abolished the jurisdiction of the five High Courts and established a single High Court for the entire state, with its seat at Jodhpur and at such other places as the Rajpramukh may from time to time appoint, either permanently or for a specified period.
• The Chief Justice was empowered to nominate one or more judges of the High Court to sit at other places.

Establishment of Rajasthan High Court –

• The Rajpramukh issued a notification on 25 August 1949, fixing the date of inauguration of the Rajasthan High Court on 29 August 1949.
• Initial meeting place
  • Jaipur (including Kota jurisdiction)
  • Udaipur
• The inauguration took place on 29th August, 1949 at Jodhpur under the chairmanship of His Highness Maharaja Sawai Mansingh, the Rajpramukh and Hon’ble Justice Kamal Kant Verma (former Chief Justice of Allahabad and Udaipur High Courts) took the oath along with 11 other Judges.
  1. Justice Lala Naval Kishore, Jodhpur (from 29.08.1949)
  2. Justice Kunwar Amar Singh Jasol, Jodhpur
  3. Justice Kanwarlal Bafna, Jaipur
  4. Justice Mohammad Ibrahim, Jaipur
  5. Justice Jawan Singh Ranawat, Udaipur
  6. Justice Sadul Singh Mehta, Udaipur 
  7. Justice Durga Shankar Dave, Bundi
  8. Justice Trilokchand Datt, Bikaner
  9. Justice Anand Narayan Kaul, Alwar
  10. Justice KK Sharma, Bharatpur
  11. Justice Khem Chand Gupta, Kota
• Kamal Kant Verma was its first Chief Justice while Kailash Nath Wanchoo became its first Chief Justice after the Constitution came into force.
• Changes in 1950 –
  • When the Indian Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950, Rajasthan was considered a ‘B category’ state in the First Schedule of the Constitution and the number of judges was reduced to 6.
  • On 8 May 1950, the Rajpramukh issued a notification under Section 10 of the relevant Ordinance of 1949, abolishing the Rajasthan High Court benches at Bikaner, Kota and Udaipur with effect from 22 May 1950.
• Effect of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956
  • The High Courts of ‘B’ category States were abolished and the existing High Court of Rajasthan and the Court of the Judicial Commissioner at Ajmer were abolished and provision was made for the establishment of a High Court for the reorganised State of Rajasthan under Section 49(2) of the Act.
  • On October 27, 1956, the Government of India issued a notification that from November 1, 1956, the capital of the newly created state of Rajasthan would be Jaipur and the seat (principal seat) of the Rajasthan High Court would be Jodhpur and under Section 51(3) of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, there was a provision for the Chief Justice of the High Court to establish temporary benches at other places after obtaining approval from the Governor. Under this, the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court established a temporary bench of the Rajasthan High Court in Jaipur on November 1, 1956.
  • On November 1, 1956, six judges were sworn in as judges of the Rajasthan High Court. Their seating arrangements are as follows:
    • Temporary Bench of Jaipur
      1. Justice Kailash Nath Bapna
      2. Jaswant Singh Ranawat
      3. Kailash Chandra Sharma
      4. Daulat Mall Bhandari
    • Jodhpur Main Seat
      • Justice Devraj Singh Dave
      • Indranath Modi
    • Jodhpur Principal Bench and Jaipur Temporary Bench – both locations
      • Kailash Nath Wanchoo

P. Satyanarayana Rao Committee – 11 July 1957

• Member
  • P. Satyanarayana Rao (Chairman)
  • V. Viswanathan
  • B.K. Gupta
• Report – 26 February 1958
• Recommendations-
  • Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan
  • The principal seat of the High Court should be in Jodhpur.
  • Jaipur bench should be abolished
• The Jaipur Bench was abolished in 1958.

Restoration of Jaipur Permanent Bench –

• The President issued an order on 8 December 1976 – The Rajasthan High Court (Establishment of a Permanent Bench at Jaipur) Order, 1976
• The Jaipur Bench was re-established on January 31, 1977. This order also stipulated a minimum of five judges for the Jaipur Permanent Bench and its jurisdiction. The then Chief Justice was Ved Prakash Tyagi.
• The total number of judges in Rajasthan was increased to 50 in 2015.
• The motto of the Rajasthan High Court is – “Truth Alone Triumphs”
• Rajasthan High Court Rules – The Rajasthan High Court Rules, 1952 came into effect on 1 October 1952.
• Rajasthan State Judicial Academy –
  • The Academic School of the Rajasthan High Court conducts a variety of training programs for the training and capacity building of judicial officers and staff. It was established on November 16, 2001, in Jodhpur. Its current Chairperson is Justice Sangeet Raj Lodha.
• The new building of the Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur was inaugurated by President Ramnath Kovind on 7 December 2019.
• There are a total of 36 judicial districts in Rajasthan, and more than 1250 subordinate courts are functioning.

Jurisdiction of Rajasthan High Court

1. Original jurisdiction

• In the following cases, the Rajasthan High Court has the right to hear the case directly, that is, the aggrieved person can directly appeal to the High Court-
  • jurisdiction issue
  • Matters relating to wills
  • Matters related to marriage
  • Divorce-Related Matters
  • Matters relating to company law
  • Cases related to contempt of court
• moreover-
  • Cases transferred from subordinate courts regarding interpretation of the Constitution.
  • Cases relating to violation of fundamental rights of citizens.
  • Hearing of matters relating to revenue or its collection.
  • Hearing of election cases of Members of Parliament and Members of State Legislature.

2. Appellate jurisdiction

• the High Court to administer the subordinate courtsRight to hear appeals in civil and criminal cases Is.
• According to Article 136 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court of India can allow appeals against the decisions of a High Court without the permission of the High Court.

3. Transfer of jurisdiction

• Article228 – The High Court can transfer a case from a subordinate court to another court.

4. Superintending jurisdiction

• Article227 –  Inspection, administrative control and rule making of subordinate courts
• If the High Court finds that a case pending in a subordinate court involves an important question of law relating to the interpretation of the Constitution, it may call for it.

5. Writ Jurisdiction

• Article226- The High Court can issue the following writs –
  1. Habeas Corpus
  2. Mandamus
  3. Prohibition
  4. Certiorari
  5. Quo Warranto
• The power of the Rajasthan High Court to issue writs is discretionary.
• He can also refuse to issue the writ.
• Apart from this, the High Court can also issue writs in other matters and cases of violation of rights.

Judicial Review-

• The High Court has the power to declare unconstitutional any law made by the Parliament and the State Legislature which is against any article of the Constitution.

List of Chief Justices of Rajasthan

Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India

S. No.	Name of the Chief Justice
1	K.N. Wanchoo
2	P.N. Singhal
3	J. S. Verma
4	Shivraj V. Patil
5	Arun Kumar
6	A.R. Lakshmanan
7	J.M. Panchal
8	Deepak Verma
9	Arun Mishra
10	Amitav Roy
11	Naveen Sinha
12	S. Ravindra Bhat
13	Pankaj Mithal
14	Augustine George Christ

Rajasthan High Court Judge who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India

S. No.	Name of the Hon’ble Judge
1	A.P. Sen
2	N.M. Kasliwal
3	S.C. Aggarwal
4	A.K. Mathur
5	P.P. Naolekar
6	G.S. Singhvi
7	Rajendra Mal Lodha Became the 41st Chief Justice of India (CJI).
8	B.S. Chauhan
9	G.S. Mishra
10	A.M. Sapre
11	Ajay Rastogi
12	Dinesh Maheshwari
13	Bela M. Trivedi
14	Sandeep Mehta
15	Vijay Bishnoi

Important facts

• Current Women Judges of Rajasthan High Court

• Current Women Judges of Rajasthan High Court
  1. Justice Rekha Borana
  2. Justice Shubha Mehta
  3. Justice Nupur Bhati
  4. Justice Sangeeta Sharma
• Judges who resigned –
  • S. K. Garg (2000 – 2005)
• Judges who died during their tenure-
  • Shri Rajendra Prasad Vyas: (2004 – 2006)
  • Shri Suresh Chandra Singhal: (2005)
  • Shri Rajendra Prakash Soni: (2023)
• Justice Farooq Hasan (1972) was a judge of the Rajasthan High Court and later served as a Minister of State in the Rajasthan Government.
• Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court who served as Acting Governor of Rajasthan
  1. Jagat Narayan
  2. Ved Pal Tyagi
  3. K. D. Sharma
  4. P. K. Banerjee
  5. D. P. Gupta
  6. Jagdish Sharan Verma
• Acting Chief Justice who also served as Acting Governor
  1. Milapchand Jain
  2. Naurang Lal Tibrewal
• Woman Judge of Rajasthan High Court
  1. Kanta Bhatnagar (First woman judge)
  2. Mohini Kapoor
  3. Gyan Sudha Mishra
  4. Meena B. Gomber
  5. Nisha Gupta
  6. Bela M. Trivedi
  7. Jayshree Thakur
  8. Nirmaljit Kaur
  9. Prabha Sharma
  10. Sabina
  11. Rekha Borana (present)
  12. Shubha Mehta (present)
  13. Dr. Nupur Bhati (present)
  14. Sangeeta Sharma (present)

Subordinate courts and other judicial bodies

Subordinate courts (Articles 233–237)

• Subordinate courts are constituted on the basis of the State Act.
• These courts function administratively and judicially under the Rajasthan High Court.
• Articles 233 to 237 in Part VI of the Constitution deal with the organisation of these courts and their independence from the executive.

Articles relating to subordinate courts

Article 231 provides for the establishment of a common High Court for two or more States.

1. Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this Chapter, Parliament may, by law, establish a single High Court for two or more States or for two or more States and a Union territory.

Article 233: Appointment of district judges

1. The appointment, posting, and promotion of a district judge in a state is done by the Governor of that state, in consultation with the High Court of that state.
2. A person who is not already in the service of the Central Government or a State Government shall be eligible to be a District Judge unless—
   • He has been an advocate or pleader for at least 7 years, and
   • His appointment should be recommended by the High Court.

Article 234: Deals with the recruitment of persons other than District Judges to the Judicial Service.

• The Governor of the State appoints persons other than District Judges to the judicial service of the State. This appointment is made in consultation with the following:
  1. State Public Service Commission
  2. High Court of that State
• Also, this appointment is made as per the rules made by the Governor.

Article 235: Deals with control over district courts and courts subordinate to them 

• The control of the district courts of the state and their subordinate courts is vested in the High Court.
• This control includes posting, promotion and grant of leave to officers of the judicial service.
• But this article does not mean that a person’s right to appeal is taken away.
• The High Court also does not have the right to give decisions against the laws related to service.

Article 236: Defines the term “judicial service”.

1. The term “District Judge” includes— Judge of a City Civil Court, Additional District Judge, Joint District Judge, Assistant District Judge, Chief Judge of a Court of Small Causes, Chief Presidency Magistrate, Additional Chief Presidency Magistrate, Sessions Judge, Additional Sessions Judge, Assistant Sessions Judge
2. “Judicial Service” – Judicial Service means the service consisting of persons who are eligible for appointment to the post of District Judge or to fill other civil judicial posts below the rank of District Judge.

Article 237:

• The Bill empowers the Governor to apply the provisions of this Chapter to any class or classes of magistrates in the State.

Court of the District and Sessions Judge

• The District and Sessions Court is divided into two parts-
  1. Civil Court –
     • When a District Judge hears civil cases, he is called a District Judge.
     • Courts under the civil side—
       • Subordinate Judge’s Court
       • Munsif Court
  2. Criminal Court –
     • When the same judge hears criminal cases, he is called a Sessions Judge.
     • Criminal cases involving violation of law, theft, robbery, kidnapping, pickpocketing, causing bodily harm, murder, etc., which can result in fine, imprisonment or even death penalty, are heard in the criminal court.
     • Courts under the criminal section—
       • Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate
       • Magistrate’s Court
     • If a Sessions Court awards death sentence in a case, the death sentence must be confirmed or accepted by the High Court.
     • Appeals to the High Court against the decisions of the Sessions Court and Additional Sessions Courts for sentences exceeding seven years. It is also important to note that a death sentence (commonly known as the death penalty) awarded by a Sessions Court or Additional Sessions Court must be confirmed by the High Court before it can be executed, regardless of whether the convicted person has filed an appeal.
• The District Judge has both judicial and administrative powers.
• Both original and appellate rights are available.
• Disputes exceeding Rs 10,000 fall under its original jurisdiction.
• Apart from this, matters related to marriage, will, etc. come under the primary jurisdiction of this court.

Civil Judge Court

• Below the district level courts are the Civil Judge Courts for civil matters.
• The Civil Judge Court has original jurisdiction to hear cases ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000.