Madras High Court
The Madras High Court (IAST: Meṭrās Uyar Nītimaṉṟam) is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is one of the oldest high courts of India along with Calcutta High Court in Kolkata[1][2][3] and Bombay High Court in Mumbai. The Madras High Court is one of four charter high courts of colonial India established in the four Presidency Towns of Madras, Bombay, Allahabad and Calcutta by letters patent granted by Queen Victoria, dated 26 June 1862. It exercises original jurisdiction over the city of Chennai, as well as extraordinary original jurisdiction, civil and criminal, under the letters patent and special original jurisdiction for the issue of writs under the Constitution of India.[4][5] Covering 107 acres, the court complex is one of the largest in the world, second only to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The four-storey administrative building attracts hundreds of litigants every day.
Madras High Court
26 June 1862
Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
Subordinate Courts of Tamil Nadu
Mandatory retirement at age 62
75
(Permanent 56; Addl. 19)
28 May 2023
Bench[edit]
The current Chief Justice of the Madras High Court is Sanjay V. Gangapurwala. The court houses 63 judges, including the Chief Justice. They exercise civil, criminal, writ, testamentary and admiralty jurisdiction.[14] The Madurai Bench began functioning in 2004.
The vestiges of the colonial High Court characterise the premises. Justices of the Madras High Court are led by orderlies who bear a ceremonial mace made of silver. Most High Courts and the Supreme Court of India either never had the practice or abandoned it.[15]
Madurai Bench[edit]
Established in 2004, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court handles cases in the fourteen southern districts of Tamil Nadu, as the court is located in the far-northern capital. The bench is located in Madurai, and has the Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, Madurai, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, Theni, Sivaganga, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli and Karur districts under its jurisdiction.
The court complex has 12 court halls, furnished on the model of the court halls in the Supreme Court, the Delhi and the Madras High Court.
The court, since its inauguration on 24 July 2004, has accelerated the legal process in the southern districts.[17]
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