The High Court of Judicature at Patna (commonly known as Patna High Court) is the High Court of the state of Bihar, India. It was established on 3 February 1916 by the 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.
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.
Chief Justice and Judges
The following are serving as the judges of the court.
Former chief justices The following have served as chief justices of the court. #Portrait Chief justice From ToRemarks1 Edward Maynard Des Champs Chamier 1 March 1916 30 October 19172 Thomas Fredrick Dawson Miller 31 October 1917 31 March 19283 Courtney Terrell 31 March 1928 6 May 19384 Arthur Trevor Harries 10 October 1938 19 January 19435 Saiyid Fazl Ali 19 January 1943 14 October 19466 Clifford Monmohan Agarwala 9 January 1948 24 January 19507 Herbert Ribton Meredith 25 January 1950 8 April 19508 Pandit Lakshami Kant Jha 8 April 1950 1 June 19529 David Ezra Reuben 1 June 1952 2 September 195310 Syed Jafar Imam 3 September 1953 10 January 195511 Sudhansu Kumar Das 10 January 1955 30 April 195612 Vaidyanathier Ramaswami 30 April 1956 4 January 196513 Ramaswamy Laxman Narasimham 4 January 1965 2 August 196814 Satish Chandra Mishra 9 November 1968 5 September 197015 Ujjal Narayan Sinha 5 September 1970 29 September 197216 Nand Lall Untwalia 29 September 1972 3 October 197417 Shyam Nandan Prasad Singh 3 October 1974 1 May 197618 Krishna Ballabh Narayan Singh 19 July 1976 12 March 198219 Surjit Singh Sandhawalia 29 November 1983 27 July 198720 Bhagwati Prasad Jha 2 January 1988 2 January 1988 21 Dipak Kumar Sen 1 May 1988 1 May 198922 Shushil Kumar Jha 19 October 1989 23 October 198923 Gangadhar Ganesh Sohani 24 October 1989 17 December 199024 Bimal Chandra Basak 18 March 1991 21 October 199425 Krishnaswami Sundara Paripoornan 24 January 1994 11 June 199426 Konduswami Venkataswamy 19 September 1994 6 March 199527 Gopal Ballav Pattanaik 19 May 1995 11 September 199528 Devinder Pratap Wadhwa 29 September 1995 21 March 199729 Brij Mohan Lal 9 July 1997 6 October 199930 Ravi Swaroop Dhavan 25 January 2000 22 July 200431 Jitendrakumar Nanalal Bhatt 18 July 2005 16 October 200732 Rajesh Balia 5 January 2008 3 March 200833 Rajendra Mal Lodha 13 May 2008 16 December 200834Jacob Benjamin Koshy35Prafulla Kumar Mishra36 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 201737Rekha Manharlal Doshit21 June 201013 December 2014Transferred from Gujarat High Court38Lingala Narasimha Reddy2 January 201531 July 201539Iqbal Ahmed Ansari29 August 201628 October 201640Rajendra Menon15 March 20178 August 2018Transferred from Madhya Pradesh High Court. Transferred to Delhi High Court as its Chief Justice41Mukesh Rasikbhai Shah12 August 20181 November 2018Transferred from Gujarat High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India42Amreshwar Pratap Sahi17 November 201810 November 2019Transferred from Allahabad High Court. Transferred to Madras High Court as its Chief Justice43Sanjay Karol11 November 20195 February 2023Transferred from Tripura High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India44Krishnan Vinod Chandran27 March 202315 January 2025Transferred from Kerala High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India45Vipul Manubhai Pancholi21 July 202528 August 2025Transferred from Gujarat High Court. Elevated to Supreme Court of India46Pavankumar Bhimappa Bajanthri21 September 202522 October 2025Transferred from Gujarat High Court47Sangam Kumar Sahoo7 January 20264 June 2026Transferred from Orissa High Court48Meenakshi Madan Rai5 June 202611 July 2026Transferred from Sikkim High Court49V. Kameswar Rao13 September 2026Transferred from Delhi High Court
Judges elevated as Chief Justices This sections contains list of only those judges elevated as chief justices whose parent high court is Patna. This includes those judges who, at the time of appointment as chief justice, may not be serving in Patna High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of appointment as chief justice were serving in Patna High Court but does not have Patna as their Parent High Court.
Colour Key
Symbol Key Elevated to Supreme Court of India Resigned Died in office NameImageAppointed as CJ in HC ofDate of appointmentDate of retirementTenureRef..As JudgeAs Chief JusticeAs Chief JusticeAs JudgeSaiyid Fazl AliPatnaClifford Monmohan AgarwalaPatnaHerbert Ribton MeredithPatnaBhuvaneshwar Prasad SinhaNagpurDavid Ezra ReubenPatnaSyed Jafar ImamPatnaSudhansu Kumar DasPatnaBira Kishore RayOrissaVaidyanathier RamaswamiPatnaSarjoo PrasadGauhati, transferred to RajasthanChandreswar Prasad SinhaGauhatiKhaleel AhmedOrissaSatish Chandra MishraPatnaUjjal Narayan SinhaPatnaNand Lall UntwaliaPatnaShyam Nandan Prasad SinghPatnaKrishna Ballabh Narayan SinghPatna, transferred to MadrasBhagwati Prasad JhaPatnaHari Lal AgrawalOrissaShushil Kumar JhaPatna, transferred to Madhya PradeshNagendra Prasad SinghCalcuttaPrabha Shankar MishraAndhra Pradesh, transferred to CalcuttaUday Pratap SinghKeralaBiswanath AgrawalOrissaBisheshwar Prasad SinghBombaySatyabrata SinhaAndhra Pradesh, transferred to DelhiBinod Kumar RoyPunjab & Haryana, transferred to Gauhati then to SikkimSachchidanand JhaJammu & Kashmir, transferred to RajasthanNarayan RoyRajasthanGyan Sudha MisraJharkhandChandramauli Kumar PrasadAllahabadSyed Rafat AlamMadhya Pradesh, transferred to AllahabadSudhanshu Joshi MukhopadhayaGujaratShiva Kirti SinghAllahabadNavin SinhaChhattisgarh, transferred to RajasthanNavniti Prasad SinghKeralaAjay Kumar TripathiChhattisgarhRavi RanjanJharkhandChakradhari Sharan SinghOrissaAshutosh KumarGauhatiIncumbent
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..Fazl AliPatna --C. M. AgarwalaPatnaBecame permanentSatish Chandra MishraPatnaK. B. N. SinghPatnaSyed Sarwar AliPatna --Bhagwati Prasad JhaPatnaBecame permanentShushil Kumar JhaPatna --Became permanentN. P. SinghPatnaElevated as CJ of CalcuttaUday Pratap SinghAllahabad --B. N. AgrawalPatnaElevated as CJ of OrissaB. P. SinghPatna --S. B. SinhaCalcuttaNagendra RaiPatnaG. C. BharukaKarnatakaAftab AlamJammu & KashmirElevated to Supreme CourtNarayan RoyPatnaElevated as CJ of RajasthanC. K. PrasadPatna --Elevated as CJ of AllahabadS. R. AlamAllahabad --S. J. MukhopadhayaJharkhandTransferred to MadrasMadras --S. K. SinghPatnaAllahabadBecame permanentNavin SinhaChhattisgarhRavi RanjanPatna --C. S. SinghPatnaAshutosh KumarPatnaIncumbentElevated as CJ of GauhatiSudhir SinghPatna --
Judges elevated to Supreme Court This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Patna. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Patna High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Patna High Court but does not have Patna 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 tenure1Saiyid Fazl Ali22 years, 289 days --2Bhuvaneshwar Prasad SinhaCJ of erstwhile Nagpur HC3Syed Jaffer Imam10th CJ of Patna HC4Sudhansu Kumar Das11th CJ of Patna HC5Vaidyanathier Ramaswami12th CJ of Patna HC6Nand Lall Untwalia16th CJ of Patna HC7Lalit Mohan SharmaJudge of Patna HC8Nagendra Prasad Singh26th CJ of Calcutta HC9Biswanath Agrawal17th CJ of Orissa HC10Bisheshwar Prasad Singh32nd CJ of Bombay HC11Satyabrata Sinha21st CJ of Delhi HC12Aftab AlamActing CJ of Jammu & Kashmir HC13Chandramauli Kumar Prasad41st CJ of Allahabad HC14Gyan Sudha Misra6th CJ of Jharkhand HC15Sudhanshu Joshi Mukhopadhaya22nd CJ of Gujarat HC16Shiva Kirti Singh44th CJ of Allahabad HC17Navin Sinha34th CJ of Rajasthan HC18Ahsanuddin AmanullahIncumbentJudge of Patna HC
List of Former Judges (Arranged in alphabetical order)