Rajesh Antil

Review of H.P.High court Shimla

The Himachal Pradesh came to be formed as a result...

The Himachal Pradesh came to be formed as a result of the integration of 26 Shimla and four Punjab hill States into a Centrally Administered Area on April 15, 1948. On 1st April 1954, the parts of Bilaspur were also merged with Himachal Pradesh having its Headquarters at Shimla. The head was the Chief Commissioner. The first Chief Commissioner was Mr. N. C. Mehta and he was assisted by his deputy Mr. E. Penderal Moon, ICS. On September 30, 1948, an advisory council was formed for the advice of the Chief Commissioner for administrative functions. The Central Government promulgated the Himachal Pradesh (Courts) Order, 1948 on 15th August 1948. As per Paragraph 3 of this Order, the Court of Judicial Commissioner was established for Himachal Pradesh, and such Court was housed at Harvingtan (Kelston area, Shimla). It was vested with the powers of a High Court under the Judicial Commissioner s Court Act, 1950. Besides the Court of Judicial Commissioner, two Courts of District and Sessions Judges and 27 subordinate Courts were also set up. The Court of Judicial commissioner started functioning on August 15, 1948, and in the same year, two Courts of District and Sessions Judges were also established. The Punjab High Court rules and orders with suitable amendments were made applicable to the courts in H.P. On April 29, 1967, two more District and Sessions Judges Courts, one for Shimla and others for Kangra were established. However, in the year, 1966, the Delhi High Court Act was enacted by the Government of India and w.e.f. May 1, 1967, the Central Government of India extended the operation of the said Act to the Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh, replacing the Court of Judicial Commissioner by the Himachal Bench of Delhi High Court, at Shimla and it started functioning in old High Court building known as Revenswood . At that time, Hon ble Mr. Justice K. S. Hegde was the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. Hon ble Mr. Justice S. K. Kapoor and Hon ble Mr. Justice Hardayal Hardy constituted the first circuit bench of the Delhi High Court which held Court at Shimla in the building known as Ravenswood . The Himachal Pradesh attained the Statehood in the year, 1971, and established its own High Court with Headquarters at Revenswood , Shimla, having one Hon ble the Chief Justice and two Hon ble Judges. The first Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh was Hon ble Mr. Justice M. H. Beg and the other two Hon ble Judges were Hon ble Mr. Justice D. B. Lal and Hon ble Mr. Justice C. R. Thakur.