The Indian High Courts Act, 1861 and 1911

THE INDIAN HIGH COURTS
ACT,1861
The Indian High Courts Act was passed by the British Parliament on the 6th
August,1861,and was titled as “An Act for establishing High Courts of
Judicature in India.”
It vested authority in Her Majesty to issue letters patent under the Great Seal
of the United Kingdom, to establish High Courts of Judicature at Calcutta,
Madras and Bombay.
On the establishment of the High Court ,the Supreme Court, the Sadar
Diwani Adalat and the Sadar Nizamat Adalat at the concerned Presidency
were to be abolished.
Each High Court was to consist of a Chief Justice and as many pusine judges,
not exceeding fifteen, as Her Majesty might from time to time think fit to
appoint.
The judges were to be selected out of the following
categories of persons-
Barristers of not less than six years’ standing
Members of the covenanted civil service of not less than
ten years’ standing, who shall have served as zillah judges
for at least three years of that period
Persons who shall have held judicial office not inferior to
that of Principal Sadar Ameen or judge of a small cause
court for a period of not less than five years
Persons who have been pleaders of a Sadar Court or High
Court for a period of not less than ten years.
The Judges of the High Courts were to hold office during Her Majesty’s
pleasure.
Each High Court was to have and exercise all such civil ,criminal ,admiralty
and vice-admiralty, testamentary ,intestate and matrimonial jurisdiction,
original and appellate.
The letters patent could impose directions and limitations as to the exercise of
original, civil and criminal jurisdiction beyond the limits of the Presidency
Towns.
The High Courts were further authorised to exercise, until the Crown
provided otherwise, the whole of the jurisdiction being exercised at the time
by the Supreme Courts of Calcutta , Madras and Bombay , over inhabitants .
All provisions of the Acts of Parliament , or of any orders of her Majesty in

Council or Charters or of any of the Indian Legislatures, applicable to the
Supreme Courts were to apply to the High Courts.
The High Court was to have superintendence over all courts subject to its
appellate jurisdiction.
Her Majesty was further authorised by letters patent , to establish a High

Court of Judicature in and for any portion of the territories within her
dominions in India.
Her Majesty was also authorised to transfer from time to time any territory or
place from the jurisdiction of one to the other High Court , and generally to
alter and determine the territorial limits of the jurisdiction of the several
High Courts.
After the issue of the first letters patent , it was to be lawful for Her Majesty ,
at any time within three years after the establishment of any High Court , to
revoke all or any part of the first letters patent by which the High Courts were
established , and to issue fresh letters.
CHARTER OF THE
CALCUTTA HIGH COURT
The Indian High Courts Act,1861,did not by itself create and establish the
High Courts in India . The Charter for the Calcutta High Court was issued on
May 14,1862, and was published in Calcutta on the 1st July,1862,establishing
the High Court from the next day.
The High Court of Calcutta was constituted into a court of record. The Court
was to have an ordinary original civil jurisdiction within the local limits of
Calcutta.
In the exercise of its ordinary original civil jurisdiction , the High Court was
empowered to try suits of every description except those which fell within
the jurisdiction of the small cause court at Calcutta and in which the subject-
matter involved did not exceed Rs. 100.
The High Court could take cognisance of a suit in which the immovable
property was situated , or the cause of action arose , wholly or partially
within Calcutta , or if the defendant , at the time of commencing the suit
dwelt , carried on business , or personally worked for gain within such local
limits .
This clause, therefore , limited the ordinary original jurisdiction of the High
Court to the local limits of the Presidency Town.
By the Act of Settlement,1781, the Supreme Court had been precluded from
exercising any jurisdiction in any matter concerning revenue. The High
Court , however was not placed under any such restriction.
The ordinary original civil jurisdiction of the High Court was thus placed on
the same footing as the mofussil adalats of first instance.
The High Court was to enjoy an extraordinary original civil jurisdiction

under which it was authorised to remove and try any suit pending in any
court.
The High Court was given an appellate civil jurisdiction to hear appeals
from civil courts subordinate to it. The appellate jurisdiction , it would
appear , was inherited by the High Court from its predecessor the Sadar
Diwani Adalat.
The High Court was to have an ordinary original criminal jurisdiction within
the same local limits as its ordinary original civil jurisdiction.
In exercise of its ordinary criminal jurisdiction , the High Court was

empowered to try all persons brought before it in due course of law. The
position was exactly the same as it had existed under the Supreme Court .
The High Court was to have an extraordinary original criminal jurisdiction

over all persons residing in places within the jurisdiction of any court subject
to its superintendence.
The High Court was also to have an appellate criminal jurisdiction and was
thus to hear appeals, as well as be a court of reference and revision ,from the
subordinate criminal courts.
ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT
The Indian High Courts Act,1861 , had envisaged the creation of any other
High Court in addition to the three High Courts.
Her Majesty could issue letters patent to establish a High Court for any
portion of the territories not included within the local jurisdiction of
another High Court.
The qualification of the judges of this High Court were to be the same as had
been prescribed for the judges of the three other High Courts.
The territorial jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court was confined to

Bengal ,Bihar and Orissa and did not extend to the North-Western Provinces
where the Sadar Adalats continued to function as usual.
The Court actually came into being on June
11,1866, and was shifted to Allahabad in 1875 and
thus came to be known as the High Court of
Judicature at Allahabad .
The constitution , jurisdiction ,powers and

privileges of the Court were similar to those of the
High Court at Calcutta.
But there were points of difference too . They were as following:
• The High Court at Calcutta had an ordinary original civil and criminal
jurisdiction within the local limits of the Presidency Town . The
Allahabad High Court was not given any such jurisdiction.
• Unlike the High Court at Calcutta , the Allahabad High Court did not
enjoy admiralty or vice-admiralty jurisdiction.
It may be interesting to appreciate the reason for these differences. The High
Courts at the Presidency Towns had been given the ordinary original
jurisdiction and the admiralty jurisdiction because of the fact that they had
absorbed into themselves the pre-existing Supreme Courts which had
jurisdiction. The Allahabad High Court was , on the other hand , an elevation
of the Sadar Diwani Adalat and Sadar Fozdari Adalat. These Adalats
functioning hitherto in the North Western Provinces did not enjoy any such
jurisdiction.
In Oudh , a non-Regulation territory , to start with, a Judicial Commissioner’s
Court was established in 1865.By the Oudh Civil Courts Act,1877, it was
declared to be the highest court of appeal for Oudh.
To meet the desires of the talukdars and other people in Oudh, the U.P
Legislature passed the Oudh Courts Act in 1925 and raised the Judicial
Commissioner’s Court to the status of the Chief Court.
In the State of United Provinces (later Uttar Pradesh) there thus functioned
two separate courts of appeal, one at Allahabad and the other at Lucknow .
After the Independence, it was thought necessary to integrate both these

courts and , therefore, on July 26 ,1948, the territorial jurisdiction of the
Allahabad High Court was augmented by the amalgamation of the Oudh
Chief Court with it. The Allahabad High Court , however , maintains a bench
at Lucknow also.
THE INDIAN HIGH COURTS
ACT,1911
By the Indian High Courts Act,1911, a few modifications were effected in the
Indian High Courts Act,1861.
First, the ceiling on the number of judges in a High Court was raised .The Act
of 1861 had fixed the maximum number of judges, including the Chief Justice
at fifteen. The Act of 1911 raised this limit , including the Chief Justice , to
twenty .
Secondly, the power to establish High Courts was now liberalised .
Under the Act of 1861,a High Court could be established only for the territory
not included within the local jurisdiction of another High Court. The Act of
1911 dropped this restriction. It authorised the Crown to establish additional
High Courts.
Thus, the power to establish additional High Courts conferred by the Act of
1911 differed from that conferred by the Act of 1861.Also,it was thought that
the power accorded in 1861 to create High Courts had been exhausted by the
creation of the Allahabad High Court and that fresh conferment of such
power was necessary.
Thirdly, the Act of 1911 made provision for appointment by Governor-General-

in-Council of additional judges to a High Court for a maximum period of two
years.
Lastly, the Act prescribed that the salaries of the judges or temporary judges
were to be paid out of the revenues of India.

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THE INDIAN HIGH COURTS

All provisions of the Acts of Parliament , or of any orders of her Majesty in

Her Majesty was further authorised by letters patent , to establish a High

The High Court was to enjoy an extraordinary original civil jurisdiction

In exercise of its ordinary criminal jurisdiction , the High Court was

The High Court was to have an extraordinary original criminal jurisdiction

The territorial jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court was confined to

The constitution , jurisdiction ,powers and

After the Independence, it was thought necessary to integrate both these

Secondly, the power to establish High Courts was now liberalised .

Thirdly, the Act of 1911 made provision for appointment by Governor-General-

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