The Gauhati High Court was promulgated by the governor general of India on 1 March 1948 after the Government of India Act 1935 was passed, establishing the high court with effect from 5 April 1948, for the then-province of Assam. It was originally known as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland, but renamed as Gauhati High Court in 1971 by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.
It has the largest jurisdiction in terms of states, with its area covering the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram.
History
After Indian independence, the Assam Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution on 9 September 1947 that a High Court be established for the province of Assam. In exercise of power conferred by the Government of India Act 1935, the Governor General of India on 1 March 1948 promulgated the Assam High Court Order, 1948, establishing the High Court of Assam. It was inaugurated on 5 April 1948 by H. J. Kania, the chief justice of India. Sir R.F. Lodge was sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the Assam High Court on the same day. The Assam High Court initially had its sittings at Shillong but shifted to Guwahati on 14 August 1948.
Later, when Nagaland state was created on 1 December 1963, the Assam High Court was renamed as the High Court of Assam and Nagaland.
On re-organization of the northeastern region of India by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971, the High Court of Assam and Nagaland was abolished with effect from 21 January 1972 by section 28(1)(a) of the Act. The Courts of Judicial Commissioners for Manipur and Tripura, which were functioning as high courts, were also abolished by section 30(1) of the Act. In place of these three entities, a common high court for five states, named Gauhati High Court, was established by section 28(1)(b) of the Act. This High Court was given jurisdiction over the then union territories of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram by section 32 of the Act.
After Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura got a high court, the Gauhati High Court ceased its jurisdiction in these three states.
Principal seat and benches
The principal seat of the Gauhati High Court is at Guwahati in Assam. The court has 3 outlying benches. These are:
The Kohima bench for Nagaland state
The bench of the High Court in Nagaland is located on the eastern slope of the Ministers' Hill in the capital city of Nagaland, Kohima. The building housing the Kohima bench was earlier a hostel, which was renovated for the Kohima bench. The bench was inaugurated on 1 December 1972, by the Honorable Mr. Justice M.C. Pathak.
The permanent judge for the state of Nagaland is Lanusungkum Jamir. Elevated as Additional Judge on 22 May 2013.
The Itanagar bench for Arunachal Pradesh state
The bench of the High Court in Arunachal Pradesh is located at Itanagar more specified at Naharlagun, which is located about 13 km from the capital town, Itanagar. The Itanagar permanent bench of the Gauhati High Court was inaugurated on 12 August 2000 by A.S. Anand. The permanent judge is Pranoy Kumar Musahary.
The Aizawl bench for Mizoram state
The Aizawl bench of the High Court in Mizoram is situated at the capital city of Mizoram, Aizawl. On 5 July 1990, the Aizawl permanent bench of the Gauhati High Court was established and inaugurated by the then-chief justice of India, S.B. Mukherjee. The permanent judge is M. R. Pathak. Elevated as additional judge on 22 May 2013 is Michael Zothankhuma.
Chief Justice and Judges
The Judges of Gauhati High Court (other than the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court) are appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, and on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court. The Chief Justice of India is required to consult with two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of the High Court is also required to consult his two senior-most puisne Judges before recommending a name for appointment to the High Court.
Currently, the sanctioned strength of Judges of the Gauhati High Court is 22 permanent Judges and 8 Additional Judges. Following is the list of sitting Judges of the High Court of Delhi
List of chief justices #PortraitChief justiceTenureStartEnd1Ronald Francis Lodge2Thakurdas Vasanmal Thadani3Sarjoo Prasad4Chandreswar Prasad Sinha5Holiram Deka6Gopalji Mehrotra7Canakapalli Sanjeevrow Nayudu8Sarat Kumar Dutta9Parbati Kumar Goswami10Mahendra Chandra Pathak11Mahadevayya Sadanand Swami12Chand Mal Lodha13Baharul Islam14Dambarudhar Pathak15Tribeni Sahai Misra16Palem Chennakesava Reddy17Kiranmoy Lahiri18Khagendra Nath Saikia19Guman Mal Lodha20Anisetti Raghuvir21Ullal Lakshminarayana Bhat22Rajkumar Manisana Singh23Viney Krishna Khanna24Muniyallapa Ramakrishna25Brijesh Kumar26Naresh Chandra Jain27Ravinder Singh Mongia28Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar29Binod Kumar Roy30Buchireddy Sudershan Reddy31Jasti Chelameswar32Ramesh Surajmal Garg33Madan Lokur34Adarsh Kumar Goel35Abhay Manohar Sapre36Ajit Singh37Ajjikuttira Somaiah Bopanna38Ajai Lamba39Sudhanshu Dhulia40Rashmin Manharbhai Chhaya41Sandeep Mehta42Vijay Bishnoi43Ashutosh Kumar21 July 2025Incumbent
Judges elevated as Chief Justices This sections contains list of only those judges elevated as chief justices whose parent high court is Gauhati. This includes those judges who, at the time of appointment as chief justice, may not be serving in Gauhati High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of appointment as chief justice were serving in Gauhati High but does not have Gauhati as their parent High Court.
Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and Subhasis Talapatra were originally appointed as judges of Gauhati High Court but opted for High courts of Manipur and Tripura respectively as their parent high courts when they were established, thus they are not included in this list.
Colour Key
Symbol Key Elevated to Supreme Court of India Resigned Died in office NameImageAppointed as CJ in HC ofDate of appointmentDate of retirementTenureAs JudgeAs Chief JusticeAs Chief JusticeAs JudgeThakurdas Vasanmal ThadaniGauhatiHoliram DekaGauhatiSarat Kumar DuttaGauhatiParbati Kumar GoswamiGauhatiMahendra Chandra PathakGauhatiBaharul IslamGauhatiDambarudhar PathakGauhati, transferred to OrissaKiranmoy LahiriGauhatiKhagendra Nath SaikiaGauhatiBanwari Lal HansariaOrissaRajkumar Manisana SinghGauhatiSailendu Nath PhukanHimachal Pradesh, transferred to OrissaBhagwati Prasad SarafJammu & KashmirWungazan Awungshi ShishakChhattisgarh, transferred to Himachal PradeshHotoi Khetoho SemaJammu & KashmirSujit Barman RoyOrissaMukundakam SharmaDelhiAftab Hussain SaikiaSikkim, transferred to Jammu & KashmirRanjan GogoiPunjab & HaryanaAmitava RoyRajasthan, transferred to OrissaIqbal Ahmed AnsariPatnaTinilanthang VaipheiTripuraHrishikesh RoyKeralaArup Kumar GoswamiSikkim, transferred to Andhra Pradesh then to ChhattisgarhUjjal BhuyanTelangana
Judges appointed as Acting Chief Justice NameAppointed as ACJ in HC ofDate of appointment as JudgePeriod as Acting Chief JusticeDate of retirementTenure as ACJTenure as JudgeRemarksRef..T. V. ThadaniGauhatiBecame permanentRam LabhayaGauhati --M. C. PathakGauhatiBecame permanentBaharul IslamGauhatiD. PathakGauhatiKiranmoy LahiriGauhatiK. N. SaikiaGauhatiB. L. HansariaGauhati --Shafiqul HaqueGauhatiR. K. Manisana SinghGauhatiBecame permanentS. N. PhukanGauhati --Bhagwati Prasad SarafBombayElevated as CJ of Jammu & KashmirH. K. SemaGauhatiTransferred to Jammu & KashmirJammu & KashmirBecame permanentM. K. SharmaDelhiNongthomban Surajmani SinghSikkim --Dinendra BiswasGauhatiRanjan GogoiGauhati --Punjab & HaryanaBecame permanentIqbal Ahmed AnsariPatna --Became permanentT. VaipheiGauhati --TripuraBecame permanentT. Nandakumar SinghMeghalaya --Retired as ACJHrishikesh RoyKeralaBecame permanentA. K. GoswamiGauhati --Sudip Ranjan SenMeghalayaL. JamirGauhatiTransferred to CalcuttaM. R. PathakGujaratIncumbentIncumbent
Judges elevated to Supreme Court This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Gauhati. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Gauhati High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Gauhati High Court but does not have Gauhati as their Parent High Court.
Colour Key
Key Resigned Died in office #Name of the JudgeImageDate of AppointmentDate of RetirementTenureImmediately preceding officeIn Parent High CourtIn Supreme CourtIn High Court(s)In Supreme CourtTotal tenure1Parbati Kumar Goswami9th CJ of Gauhati HC2Baharul Islam10 years, 81 days --3Khagendra Nath Saika11 years, 95 days --4Banwari Lal Hansaria13th CJ of Orissa HC5Sailendu Nath Phukan16th CJ of Orissa HC6Hotoi Khetoho Sema21st CJ of Jammu & Kashmir HC7Mukundakam Sharma24th CJ of Delhi HC8Ranjan Gogoi30th CJ of Punjab & Haryana HC9Amitava Roy27tht CJ of Orissa HC10Hrishikesh Roy35th CJ of Kerala HC11Ujjal BhuyanIncumbent5th CJ of Telangana HC
See also High Courts of India
References
Jurisdiction and Seats of Indian High Courts Judge strength in High Courts increased
External links Gauhati High Court - legal directory