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Rajasthan High Court

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Rajasthan High Court
राजस्थान उच्च न्यायालय
Rajasthan High Court Building
Map
Interactive map of Rajasthan High Court
राजस्थान उच्च न्यायालय
26°07′32″N 73°01′32″E / 26.125436°N 73.025494°E / 26.125436; 73.025494
Established29 August 1949; 76 years ago (1949-08-29)
JurisdictionRajasthan
LocationPrincipal Seat: Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Circuit Bench: Jaipur
Coordinates26°07′32″N 73°01′32″E / 26.125436°N 73.025494°E / 26.125436; 73.025494
Composition methodPresidential appointment with confirmation of Chief Justice of India and Governor of respective state.
Authorised byConstitution of India
Appeals toSupreme Court of India
Judge term lengthMandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions50
(Permanent: 38; Addl: 12)
Websitehcraj.nic.in/%20http://hcraj.nic.in/
Chief Justice
CurrentlySanjeev Prakash Sharma (Acting CJ)
Since27 September 2025

The High Court of Rajasthan is located in Jodhpur and is the highest court in the state of Rajasthan. It was established on 29 August 1949 under the Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949. Currently, the sanctioned strength of the judges is 50 and the actual strength varies as per recent appointments.

View of the Rajasthan High Court, Sardar museum in Umaid Park and upper right is Jodhpur fort in 1960.

There were five High Courts operated[when?] across different regions—at Jodhpur, Jaipur, Bikaner, and in the former Rajasthan and Matsya Union. The Rajasthan High Court Ordinance, 1949 brought these institutions together, establishing a single High Court to serve the entire state under a unified judicial system. The High Court of Rajasthan was founded in 1949 at Jaipur and was inaugurated by the Rajpramukh, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh on 29 August 1949, later on after complete integration of Rajasthan in 1956 it was moved at Jodhpur with recommendation of the Satyanarayan Rao committee.

The first Chief Justice was Kamala Kant Verma. A bench was formed at Jaipur on 31 January 1977 under Section 51(2) of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 which was dissolved in 1958.

The high court was shifted to a new premises on outskirts of Jodhpur from the city centre in 2019. The president of India inaugurated the newly constructed building.[1]

This is the 'list of chief justices of the Rajasthan High Court' from its establishment in 1947.

Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court
AbbreviationCJ Rajasthan
SeatJodhpur
NominatorCollegium of the Supreme Court
AppointerPresident of India
Term lengthtill the age of 62 yrs[2]
Constituting instrumentConstitution of India (under Article 124)
Formation21 June 1947; 79 years ago (21 June 1947)
First holderJustice Sarat Kumar Ghosh (1947)
Salary₹250,000 (US$2,600) (per month)[3]
Websitehttp://www.hcraj.nic.in/

Chief Justice and Judges

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Former Chief Justices

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# Portrait Chief Justice From To
1 Kamalkanta Verma 29 August 1949 24 January 1950
2 K. N. Wanchoo Kailas Nath Wanchoo 2 January 1951 10 August 1958
3 Sarju Prasad 28 February 1959 10 October 1961
4 Jawan Singh Ranawat 11 October 1961 31 May 1963
5 Durga Shakti Dave 1 June 1963 17 December 1968
6 Daulat Mal Bhandari 18 December 1968 15 December 1969
7 Jagat Narayan 16 December 1969 13 February 1973
8 Bhagwati Prasad Beri 14 February 1973 16 February 1975
9 Prakash Narayan Shinghal 17 February 1975 5 November 1975
10 Vedpal Tyagi 6 November 1975 27 December 1977
11 Closepet Honniah 27 April 1978 22 September 1978
12 Chand Mal Lodha 12 March 1979 9 July 1980
13 Kalyan Dutt Sharma 7 January 1981 22 October 1983
14 Pradyot Kumar Banerjee 23 October 1983 30 September 1985
15 Dwarka Prasad Gupta 12 April 1986 31 July 1986
16 J. S. Verma Jagdish Sharan Verma 1 September 1986 22 May 1989
17 Krishna Chandra Agarwal 15 April 1990 7 April 1994
18 Gokal Chand Mittal 12 April 1994 3 March 1995
19 Amratlal Parmananddas Ravani 4 April 1995 10 September 1996
20 Mukul Gopal Mukherjee 19 September 1996 24 December 1997
21 Shivaraj Virupanna Patil 22 January 1999 14 March 2000
22 Arunachalam R. Lakshmanan 29 May 2000 25 November 2001
23 Arun Kumar 2 December 2001 2 October 2002
24 Anil Dev Singh 24 December 2002 22 October 2004
25 Sachchidanand Jha 12 October 2005 15 June 2007
26 Jagdish Madhurlal Panchal 16 September 2007 11 November 2007
27 Narayan Roy 5 January 2008 31 January 2009
28 Deepak Verma 6 March 2009 10 May 2009
29 Jagadish Bhalla 10 August 2009 31 October 2010
30 Arun Kumar Mishra 26 November 2010 13 December 2012
31 Amitava Roy 2 January 2013 5 August 2014
32 Sunil Ambwani 24 March 2015 22 August 2015
33 Satish Kumar Mittal 5 March 2016 14 April 2016
34 Navin Sinha 14 May 2016 16 February 2017
35 Pradeep Nandrajog 2 April 2017 6 April 2019
36 Shripathi Ravindra Bhat 5 May 2019 23 September 2019
37 Indrajit Mahanty 6 October 2019 11 October 2021
38 Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi 12 October 2021 6 March 2022
39 Sambhaji Shiwaji Shinde 21 June 2022 1 August 2022
40 Pankaj Mithal 14 October 2022 5 February 2023
41 Augustine George Masih 30 May 2023 8 November 2023
42 Manindra Mohan Shrivastava 6 February 2024 20 July 2025
43 Kalpathi Rajendran Shriram 21 July 2025 27 September 2025

Judges elevated as Chief Justices

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This sections contains list of only those judges elevated as chief justices whose parent high court is Rajasthan. This includes those judges who, at the time of appointment as chief justice, may not be serving in Rajasthan High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of appointment as chief justice were serving in Rajasthan High Court but does not have Rajasthan as their Parent High Court.[4][5]

Name Image Appointed as CJ in HC of Date of appointment Date of retirement[a] Tenure
As Judge As Chief Justice As Chief Justice As Judge[b]
Jawan Singh Ranawat Rajasthan 29 August 1949 11 October 1961 31 May 1963 1 year, 233 days 13 years, 276 days
Durga Shakti Dave Rajasthan 29 August 1949[c] 1 June 1963 17 December 1968 5 years, 200 days 17 years, 309 days
Daulat Mal Bhandari Rajasthan 26 July 1955 18 December 1968 15 December 1969 363 days 14 years, 143 days
Jagat Narayan Rajasthan 20 January 1958 16 December 1969 13 February 1973 3 years, 60 days 15 years, 25 days
Bhagwati Prasad Beri Rajasthan 16 August 1960 14 February 1973 16 February 1975 2 years, 3 days 14 years, 185 days
Prakash Narayan Shinghal Rajasthan 21 June 1961 17 February 1975 5 November 1975[‡] 262 days 14 years, 138 days
Vedpal Tyagi Rajasthan 13 September 1962 6 November 1975 27 December 1977 2 years, 52 days 15 years, 106 days
Chand Mal Lodha Gauhati, transferred to Rajasthan 22 November 1967 6 July 1978 9 July 1980 2 years, 4 days 12 years, 231 days
Kalyan Dutt Sharma Rajasthan 20 July 1973 7 January 1981 22 October 1983 2 years, 289 days 10 years, 95 days
Dwarka Prasad Gupta Rajasthan 24 September 1973 12 April 1986 31 July 1986 111 days 12 years, 311 days
Mohan Lall Shrimal Sikkim 7 October 1974 17 December 1983 3 January 1985 1 year, 18 days 10 years, 89 days
Guman Mal Lodha Gauhati 1 May 1978 1 March 1988 15 March 1988 15 days 9 years, 320 days
Narendra Mohan Kasliwal Himachal Pradesh 15 June 1978 29 March 1989 5 October 1989[‡] 191 days 11 years, 113 days
Milap Chand Jain Delhi 28 November 1990 21 July 1991 236 days 13 years, 37 days
Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar Madras 26 September 1978 15 June 1992 14 November 1992 153 days 14 years, 50 days
Surendra Nath Bhargava[6] Sikkim 20 October 1982 20 January 1993 10 February 1996 3 years, 22 days 13 years, 114 days
Ashok Kumar Mathur Madhya Pradesh, transferred to Calcutta 13 July 1985 3 February 1996 6 June 2004[‡] 8 years, 125 days 18 years, 330 days
Nagendra Kumar Jain Madras, transferred to Karnataka 20 July 1990 13 September 2000 20 October 2004 4 years, 38 days 14 years, 93 days
Ganpat Singh Singhvi Andhra Pradesh 27 November 2005 11 November 2007[‡] 1 year, 350 days 17 years, 115 days
Yad Ram Meena Gujarat 3 February 2007 30 June 2008 1 year, 149 days 17 years, 347 days
Rajesh Balia Patna 21 October 1991 5 January 2008 3 March 2008 59 days 16 years, 135 days
Rajendra Mal Lodha R. M. Lodha Patna 31 January 1994 13 May 2008 16 December 2008[‡] 218 days 14 years, 321 days
Bhagwati Prasad Jharkhand 6 April 1996 22 August 2010 12 May 2011 264 days 15 years, 37 days
Prakash Chandra Tatia Jharkhand 11 January 2001 11 September 2011 3 August 2013 1 year, 327 days 12 years, 205 days
Narendra Kumar Jain[7] Sikkim 2 September 2004 7 January 2014 7 October 2014 274 days 10 years, 36 days
Dinesh Maheshwari Meghalaya, transferred to Karnataka 24 February 2016 17 January 2019[‡] 2 years, 328 days 14 years, 138 days
Ajay Rastogi Tripura 1 March 2018 2 November 2018[‡] 247 days 14 years, 62 days
Govind Mathur Allahabad 14 November 2018 13 April 2021 2 years, 151 days 16 years, 224 days
Raghvendra Singh Chauhan Telangana, transferred to Uttarakhand 13 June 2005 22 June 2019 23 December 2021 2 years, 185 days 16 years, 194 days
Mohammad Rafiq Meghalaya, transferred to Orissa, then to Madhya Pradesh and again to Himachal Pradesh 15 May 2006 13 November 2019 24 May 2022 2 years, 193 days 15 years, 286 days
Munishwar Nath Bhandari Madras 5 July 2007 14 February 2022 12 September 2022 211 days 15 years, 70 days
Sandeep Mehta Gauhati 30 May 2011 15 February 2023 8 November 2023[‡] 267 days 12 years, 163 days
Vijay Bishnoi Gauhati 8 January 2013 5 February 2024 29 May 2025[‡] 1 year, 114 days 12 years, 142 days
Arun Bhansali Allahabad Incumbent 2 years, 174 days 13 years, 202 days

Judges appointed as Acting Chief Justice

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Name Appointed as ACJ in HC of Date of appointment as Judge Period as Acting Chief Justice Date of retirement[a] Tenure as ACJ Tenure as Judge Remarks Ref..
Nawal Kishore Rajasthan 29 August 1949 25 Jan 1950 – 1 Jan 1951 3 November 1951 342 days 2 years, 67 days -- [8]
Kanwar Lal Bapna Rajasthan 11 Aug 1958 – 27 Feb 1959 4 January 1960 201 days 10 years, 129 days [9]
Mohan Lal Joshi Rajasthan 22 November 1971 1 Mar 1978 – 26 Apr 1978 30 June 1979 57 days 7 years, 221 days [10]
23 Sep 1978 – 11 Mar 1979 170 days
Kalyan Dutt Sharma Rajasthan 20 July 1973 10 Jul 1980 – 6 Jan 1981 22 October 1983 181 days 10 years, 95 days Became permanent [11]
Dwarka Prasad Gupta Rajasthan 24 September 1973 1 Oct 1985 – 11 Apr 1986 31 July 1986 193 days 12 years, 311 days [12]
G. M. Lodha Rajasthan 1 May 1978 1 Aug 1986 – 31 Aug 1986 15 March 1988 31 days 9 years, 320 days -- [13]
M. C. Jain Rajasthan 15 June 1978 23 May 1989 – 14 Apr 1990 21 July 1991 327 days 13 years, 37 days [14]
A. K. Mathur Madhya Pradesh 13 July 1985 13 Oct 1995 – 2 Feb 1996 6 June 2004[‡] 113 days 18 years, 330 days Became permanent
Navrang Lal Tibrewal Rajasthan 20 July 1990 10 Apr 1998 – 25 May 1998 16 January 1999 46 days 8 years, 181 days Appointed as Acting Governor of Rajasthan
16 Jan 1999 – 17 Jan 1999 2 days Retired as ACJ
N. K. Jain Madras 20 Jan 1999 – 23 May 1999 20 October 2004 124 days 14 years, 93 days -- [15]
27 Aug 1999 – 8 Sep 1999 13 days
7 Jun 2000 – 12 Sep 2000 98 days Became permanent
Megh Raj Calla Rajasthan 26 Nov 2001 – 1 Dec 2001 12 March 2003 65 days 12 years, 236 days --
3 Oct 2002 – 23 Dec 2002 20 days
G. S. Singhvi Punjab & Haryana 15 Sep 2002 – 14 Oct 2002 11 November 2007[‡] 30 days 17 years, 115 days
21 Feb 2005 – 25 Feb 2005 64 days Transferred to Gujarat
Y. R. Meena Rajasthan 23 Oct 2004 – 11 Oct 2005 30 June 2008 354 days 17 years, 347 days --
Gujarat 3 Apr 2006 – 2 Feb 2007 306 days Became permanent
Rajesh Balia Rajasthan 21 October 1991 16 Jun 2007 – 15 Jul 2007 3 March 2008 30 days 16 years, 135 days --
12 Nov 2007 – 4 Jan 2008 54 days Elevated as CJ of Patna
P. C. Tatia Jharkhand 11 January 2001 13 May 2011 – 10 Sep 2011 3 August 2013 121 days 12 years, 205 days Became permanent
Narendra Kumar Jain Rajasthan 2 September 2004 14 Dec 2012 – 2 Jan 2013 7 October 2014 20 days 10 years, 36 days --
Sikkim 2 Oct 2013 – 6 Jan 2014 97 days Became permanent
Ajay Rastogi Rajasthan 15 Apr 2016 – 13 May 2016 2 November 2018[‡] 29 days 14 years, 62 days --
Govind Mathur Allahabad 24 Oct 2018 – 13 Nov 2018 13 April 2021 21 days 16 years, 224 days Became permanent
R. S. Chauhan Telangana 13 June 2005 3 Apr 2019 – 21 Jun 2019 23 December 2021 80 days 16 years, 194 days [16]
Vineet Kothari Madras 7 Sep 2019 – 10 Nov 2019 2 September 2021 65 days 16 years, 82 days -- [17]
1 Jan 2021 – 3 Jan 2021 3 days Transferred to Gujarat [18]
Gujarat 31 Aug 2021 – 2 Sep 2021 220 days Retired as ACJ [19]
Mohammad Rafiq Rajasthan 15 May 2006 7 Apr 2019 – 4 May 2019 24 May 2022 28 days 15 years, 286 days --
23 Sep 2019 – 5 Oct 2019 13 days
M. N. Bhandari Allahabad 5 July 2007 26 Jun 2021 – 10 Oct 2021 12 September 2022 107 days 15 years, 70 days
Madras 22 Nov 2021 – 13 Feb 2022 84 days Became permanent [20]
Sanjeev Prakash Sharma Rajasthan 16 November 2016 28 Sep 2025 – Incumbent Incumbent 304 days 9 years, 255 days
  1. 1 2 this includes date of resignation, death and elevation to supreme court
  2. ↑ also includes tenure as Chief Justice
  3. ↑ Appointed as judge on 29 August 1949 and served till 25 January 1951. Reappointed as permanent judge on 12 July 1952 and served till his retirement as chief justice on 17 December 1968

Judges elevated to Supreme Court

[edit]

This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Rajasthan. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Rajasthan High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Rajasthan High Court but does not have Rajasthan as their Parent High Court.

# Name of the Judge Image Date of Appointment Date of Retirement Tenure Immediately preceding office
In Parent High Court In Supreme Court In High Court(s) In Supreme Court Total tenure[a]
1 Prakash Narayan Shinghal 21 June 1961 6 November 1975 14 October 1980 14 years, 138 days 4 years, 344 days 19 years, 116 days 9th CJ of Rajasthan HC
2 Narendra Mohan Kasliwal 15 June 1978 6 October 1989 3 April 1993 11 years, 113 days 3 years, 180 days 14 years, 293 days 16th CJ of Himachal Pradesh HC
3 Suresh Chandra Agrawal 11 January 1990 4 September 1998 11 years, 210 days 8 years, 237 days 20 years, 82 days Judge of Rajasthan HC
4 Ashok Kumar Mathur 13 July 1985 7 June 2004 7 August 2008 18 years, 330 days 4 years, 62 days 23 years, 26 days 31st CJ of Calcutta HC
5 Ganpat Singh Singhvi 20 July 1990 12 November 2007 12 December 2013 17 years, 115 days 6 years, 31 days 23 years, 146 days CJ of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh HC
6 Rajendra Mal Lodha 31 January 1994 17 December 2008 27 September 2014 14 years, 321 days 5 years, 285 days 20 years, 240 days 33rd CJ of Patna HC
7 Ajay Rastogi 2 September 2004 2 November 2018 17 June 2023 14 years, 61 days 4 years, 228 days 18 years, 289 days 3rd CJ of Tripura HC
8 Dinesh Maheshwari 18 January 2019 14 May 2023 14 years, 138 days 4 years, 117 days 18 years, 255 days 29th CJ of Karnataka HC
9 Sandeep Mehta 30 May 2011 9 November 2023 Incumbent 12 years, 163 days 2 years, 262 days 15 years, 60 days 41st CJ of Gauhati HC
10 Vijay Bishnoi 8 January 2013 30 May 2025 12 years, 142 days 1 year, 60 days 13 years, 202 days 42nd CJ of Gauhati HC
  1. ↑ Includes both tenure as High Court Judge as well as Supreme Court Judge

Rajasthan High Court Bar Association, Jaipur

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Rajasthan High Court Bar Association, Jaipur is a registered society of the Advocates practicing at Jaipur Bench of Rajasthan High Court. The body elects its office bearers through direct election every year.

Statue of Manu

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On 3 March 1989, the Rajasthan Judicial Officers Association sponsored by the Lions Club had installed a Manu idol in front of the lawn of the high court with the permission of the high court. Since its installation, the statue has been the subject of numerous protests, legal challenges, and even an order by judges calling for its removal.[21][22][23][24]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "President to open Rajasthan high court 's new building in Jodhpur on December 7". The Times of India. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  2. ↑ "Supreme Court of India - CJI & Sitting Judges". Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Supreme Court, High Court judges get nearly 200% salary hike". The Hindustan Times. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  4. ↑ "Rajasthan High Court". hcraj.nic.in. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "Rajasthan High Court". hcraj.nic.in. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "Hon'ble Mr. Justice Surendra Nath Bhargava | High Court of Sikkim". hcs.gov.in. Archived from the original on 10 March 2026. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  7. ↑ "Hon'ble Mr. Justice Narendra Kumar Jain | High Court of Sikkim". hcs.gov.in. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  8. ↑ "Appointment of Nawal Kishiore as acting Chief Justice" (PDF).
  9. ↑ "Appointment of K. L. Bapna as Acting Chief justice".
  10. ↑ "Appointment of M. L. Joshi as Acting Chief Justice".
  11. ↑ "Rajasthan-high-court-has-appointed-shri-justice-dwarka-prasad-gupta-and-shri-justice as Acting Chief Justice (Pg. No. 4)".
  12. ↑ "Appointment of D. P. Gupta as Chief Justice".
  13. ↑ "Sukhraj Singh vs The High Court Of Judicature For ... on 20 February, 1988". indiankanoon.org. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  14. ↑ "Full court reference for M. C. Jain" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "N.K JAIN|Farewell". www.justicenagendrakjain.com. Retrieved 10 October 2025.
  16. ↑ Bench, Bar & (28 March 2019). "Raghvendra Singh Chauhan to take over as Acting Chief Justice of Telangana HC [Read Notification]". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  17. ↑ Staff, T. N. M. (21 September 2019). "Justice Tahilramani's resignation accepted, Vineet Kothari to act as CJ of Madras HC". The News Minute. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  18. ↑ "Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court bids adieu, commends Madras Bar for its competence". The Hindu. 2 January 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  19. ↑ Bench, Bar & (27 August 2021). "Justice Vineet Kothari appointed Gujarat High Court Acting Chief Justice till Sept 2, Justice RM Chhaya to take over after". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 7 October 2025.
  20. ↑ "Former Chief Justices : Madras High Court".
  21. ↑ Mukherjee, Deep (28 October 2018). "A day in the life of a Manu statue in the Rajasthan High Court". The Indian Express. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  22. ↑ Mandal, Dilip (10 June 2020). "Bristol brought down slave trader's statue. This is what India should do with Manu statue". ThePrint. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  23. ↑ "Demand for removal of Manu's statue from Rajasthan High Court revived". The Hindu. 27 December 2022. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  24. ↑ Shantha, Sukanya (19 October 2018). "The Trigger Behind the Defacing of the 'Disputed' Manu Statue at Rajasthan HC". The Wire. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  25. ↑ "Rajasthan High Court".
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