Punjab and Haryana High Court is the common High Court for the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh based in Chandigarh, India. Sanctioned strength of judges of this High Court is 85, consisting of 64 Permanent Judges, including the Chief Justice, and 21 Additional Judges. As of 21 August 2026, there are 64 Judges working in the High Court, comprising 41 Permanent and 23 Additional Judges.
The court building is known as the Palace of Justice. Designed by Le Corbusier, it and several of his other works were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in July 2016.
Sarv Mittra Sikri, who had been practising in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and remained Advocate-General for Punjab from 1 November 1956 to 2 February 1964, was the first to be appointed as judge of the Supreme Court of India on 3 February 1964 directly from the Bar; later, becoming the Chief Justice of India on 22 January 1971, again with the distinction of being first of only two CJIs directly from the Bar.
Past judges include Madan Mohan Punchhi, P. Sathasivam, Tirath Singh Thakur, Jagdish Singh Khehar, Ranjan Gogoi and Surya Kant who were elevated to the Supreme Court of India and became Chief Justice of India.
History Formation
Punjab and Haryana High Court was formerly known as Lahore High Court, which was established on 21 March 1919. The jurisdiction of that court covered undivided Punjab and Delhi. From 1920 to 1943, the Court was conferred with extraterritorial jurisdiction over that part of China that formed part of the British consular district of Kashgar, which had previously been under the jurisdiction of the British Supreme Court for China.The China (Kashgar) Order in Council, 1920, This ceased upon the ratification of the British-Chinese Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China., implemented by The China Order in Council, 1943,
Independence-induced split Following the independence of India and its Partition at midnight on 14–15 August 1947, a separate High Court of East Punjab was created by the Governor General's High Courts (Punjab) Order, 1947 issued under Section 9 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, based at historic Peterhoff building in Shimla for the territories as included in the then Province of East Punjab and the then Province of Delhi. This had jurisdiction over the erstwhile territories of Patiala and East Punjab States Union and the East Punjab Province, which now covers areas of Indian Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. It was at Peterhoff where the trial of Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, took place in 1948–49.
On introduction of the Constitution of India on 26 January 1950, the State of East Punjab came to be known as the Punjab and accordingly, the name of the High Court was also changed as High Court of Punjab. Simultaneously, Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), which was created by uniting eight princely states on 15 July 1948, was also made a Part 'B' State with a separate High Court of Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU). As per Article 214(2) of the Constitution of India, the High Court was to be continued along with other High Courts.
From 17 January 1955, the Court was moved to its present location in Chandigarh.Highcourt history
By States Reorganisation Act, 1956, Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) was merged in the State of Punjab on 1 November 1956. The Judges of the High Court of Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) became Judges of the Punjab High Court. The strength of High Court of Punjab, which had originally 8 Judges, rose to 13.
Renaming and reduction of jurisdiction The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 paved the way for the formation of Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh from 1 November 1966. Those formations also saw the renaming of the High Court of Punjab as the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The Judges of the High Court of Punjab became Judges of the common High Court with all the powers and jurisdiction of the High Court of Punjab. However, the principal seat of the High Court remained at Chandigarh. Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh has original as well as appellate and supervisory jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to Chandigarh (a Union Territory and also capital of Punjab and Haryana), Punjab and Haryana. The High Court of Punjab and Haryana has operated since 1 November 1966 in its present form.
A Circuit Bench of the High Court of Punjab had been working at Delhi since 1952, which was replaced by constituting a separate High Court for the Union Territory of Delhi on 31 October 1966 under the Delhi High Court Act, 1966. Three Judges of the Punjab High Court were transferred to the Delhi High Court, which includes a famous Judge-Hans Raj Khanna.
Following area of State of Punjab namely Shimla, Kangra, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti Districts; Nalagarh tehsil of Ambala District; Lohara, Amb and Una kanungo circles, some area of Santokhgarh kanungo circle and some other specified area of Una tehsil of Hoshiarpur District besides some parts of Dhar Kalan Kanungo circle of Pathankot tehsil of Gurdaspur District; were merged with Himachal Pradesh on 1 November 1966 as per Section 5 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 and thus the jurisdiction of the High Court was reduced.
On 30 April 2022, at a joint meeting of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts, Punjab and Haryana proposed the establishment of separate high courts for each state. Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar proposed a High Court of Haryana in Chandigarh, and Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann proposed a High Court of Punjab in New Chandigarh. The Haryana Legislative Assembly had issued resolutions for a separate high court in 2002, 2005, and 2017.
Chandigarh court building architecture Le Corbusier, who designed the master plan for Chandigarh, was chosen to execute the project of building the high court. India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, enthusiastically supported the project and took a sustained interest in its execution. When he visited the project on 2 April 1952, he declared "Let this be a new town symbolic of the freedom of India, unfettered by the traditions of the past, an expression of the nation's faith in the future."
Chief Justice and Judges
Former Chief Justices Legends: ACJ – Acting Chief Justice Res – Resigned
List of Chief Justices.Hinadigarh High Court
List #Picture Chief Justice Took office Left office Chief Court of the Punjab (1880–1919)1 Sir Henry Meredyth Plowden 2 Sir Charles Arthur Roe 3 Sir William Ovens Clark 4 Sir Arthur Hay Stewart Reid 5 Sir Alfred Kensington 6 Sir Donald Campbell Johnstone 7 Sir Henry Adolphus Rattigan Lahore High Court (1920–1947)8 Sir Shadi Lal 9 Sir John Douglas Young 10 Sir Arthur Trevor Harries 11 Sir Abdul Rashid
List Chief Justices of Punjab High Court (1947–1966)#PictureNameTenureOath Administered by 12Justice Ram Lall15 August 194718 January 1949Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi13Justice Sudhi Ranjan Das19 January 194921 January 195014Justice Eric Weston21 January 19508 December 195215Justice Amar Nath Bandhari9 December 195218 November 195916Justice Gopal Das Ghosla19 November 195914 December 1961Narhar Vishnu Gadgil17Justice Donald Falshaw15 December 196129 May 1966 18 Justice Mehar Singh29 May 1966continuedUjjal SinghChief Justices of Punjab and Haryana High Court (1966-till now)18 Justice Mehar Singhcontinued14 August 1970 –19Justice Harbans Singh15 August 19708 April 1974D. C. Pavate20Justice Daya Krishan Mahajan10 April 197411 May 1974Mahendra Mohan Choudhry21Justice Ranjit Singh Narula11 May 197431 November 1977 22Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy28 June 197623 October 197623Justice Anand Dev Koshal1 November 197717 July 1978Ranjit Singh Narula24Justice Surjit Singh Sandhawalia17 July 197828 November 1983Jaisukh lal Hathi25Justice Prem Chand Jain28 November 198331 July 1985Bhairab Dutt Pande1 August 198518 August 1986Arjun Singh26Justice Hariday Nath Seth18 August 198614 October 1987Siddhartha Shankar Ray27Justice Debi Singh Tewatia15 October 198729 October 198728Justice R. N. Mittal30 October 198711 November 198729Justice Veeraswami Ramaswamy12 November 19876 October 198930Justice Shanti Sarup Dewan6 October 198923 October 198924 October 198931 December 1989Justice Jitendra Vir Gupta1 January 19908 July 1990Nirmal Mukarji319 July 19901 May 1991 Virendra Verma32Justice Gokal Chand Mital19 May 19914 August 1991Om Prakash Malhotra33Justice Iqbal Singh Tiwana5 August 199119 September 199134Justice Bipin Chandra Verma19 September 19912 May 1992Surendra Nath35Justice Mandagadde Rama Jois3 May 199231 August 199236Justice S. S. Sodhi1 September 199212 November 199237Justice Sudarshan Dayal Agarwal13 November 199214 January 199438Justice Sudhakar Panditrao Kurdukar16 January 199427 March 199639Justice M. S. Liberhan10 July 199416 August 199440Justice R. P. Sethi16 August 199418 September 1994Sudhakar Panditrao Kurdukar27 March 199627 June 1996B. K. N. Chhibber41Justice M. S. Liberhan27 June 199630 July 199642Justice K. Sreedharan30 July 199618 October 199743Justice Amarjeet Chaudhary18 October 19977 November 199745Justice A. B. Saharya7 November 199714 September 200246Justice G. S. Singhvi28 January 200217 April 2002J. F. R. Jacob5 August 200211 August 20022 September 20028 September 200214 September 200214 October 200247Justice Binod Kumar Roy14 October 200221 February 200548Justice G. S. Singhvi21 February 200525 February 2005Sunith Francis Rodrigues49Justice H. S. Bedi26 February 200511 March 200550Justice D. K. Jain11 March 20059 April 200651Justice H. S. Bedi10 April 20062 October 200652Justice S. S. Nijjar3 October 200628 November 200653Justice Vijender Jain28 November 20061 August 200854Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar2 August 200811 August 200855Justice Tirath Singh Thakur11 August 200816 November 200956Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar17 November 200929 November 200957Justice Mehtab Singh Gill29 November 20095 December 200958Justice Mukul Mudgal5 December 20093 January 201159Justice Ranjan Gogoi4 January 201111 February 2011Shivraj Patil12 February 201122 April 201260Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel2 February 201111 September 201161Justice M. M. Kumar12 September 2011 9 November 201123 April 20128 June 201262Justice Jasbir Singh8 June 201223 September 201263Justice A. K. Sikri23 September 201211 April 201364Justice Jasbir Singh12 April 201331 May 201365Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul1 June 201325 July 201466Justice Ashutosh Mohunta26 July 201415 December 201467Justice Shiavax Jal Vazifdar15 December 20146 August 20167 August 20163 May 2018Kaptan Singh Solanki68Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal4 May 20182 June 2018V. P. Singh Badnore69Justice Krishna Murari2 June 201822 September 201970Justice Rajiv Sharma23 September 20195 October 201971Justice Ravi Shankar Jha6 October 201913 October 2023 72Justice Ritu Bahri14 October 20233 February 2024Banwarilal Purohit73Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia4 February 20248 July 202474Justice Sheel Nagu9 July 20241 June 202675Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra2 June 2026IncumbentGulab Chand Kataria
Judges elevated as Chief Justices
This sections contains list of only those judges elevated as chief justices whose parent high court is Punjab & Haryana. This includes those judges who, at the time of appointment as chief justice, may not be serving in Punjab & Haryana High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of appointment as chief justice were serving in Punjab & Haryana High Court but does not have Punjab & Haryana as their Parent High Court.
Colour Key
Symbol Key Elevated to Supreme Court of India Resigned Died in office