Madras High Court · Lablypedia

The Madras High Court was one of the three charter High Courts established by the Letters Patent granted by the British Crown on 26 June 1862, and replaced the Supreme Court of Madras, which had exercised jurisdiction over the city since 1817. It is one of the oldest High Courts in India. After Indian independence, the High Court was recognised as an appellate authority under the Constitution of India, adopted on 26 January 1950.

From 1862 to 1892, the High Court functioned in a makeshift building. The primary court complex in Chennai was officially inaugurated on 12 July 1892 and is one of the largest in the world. The Madurai Bench was established on 24 July 2004 and functions from a dedicated court complex in Madurai. The court has a sanctioned strength of 75 judges, including the Chief Justice.

History

In the early 18th century, a Major's Court was established in Madras, which administered English law for the British settlements. From 1817 to 1862, the Supreme Court of Madras was the primary court of Madras. In 1861, the British parliament enacted the Indian High Courts Act and the Indian Councils Act, which abolished the existing Supreme Courts and the Sadr Diwani Adalat, and gave power to the English crown to establish High Courts in India. The Madras High Court was one of three charter high courts established by the letters patent granted by the English crown on 26 June 1862, and is one of the oldest high courts established in India. The order was further modified with the issuance of a fresh letters patent in 1865.

After Indian independence, the high court was recognised as one of the appellate authorities as laid down by the Constitution of India, which was adopted on 26 January 1950. While the city of Madras was renamed to Chennai in 1996, the court continued to function under the older name. Though the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed a resolution appealing to the union government to rename the court as High Court of Tamil Nadu in 2017, the name has remained the same. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court was established on 24 July 2004. The Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy, funded by the Government of Tamil Nadu, was established in April 2001 under the aegis of the Madras High Court, to train judicial officers.

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Jurisdiction

The Madras High Court has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It also exercises original jurisdiction over the city of Chennai, and for the issue of writs under the Constitution of India. Apart from civil and criminal courts, it has courts for small causes, labour affairs, industrial tribunal, transport appellate tribunal, and other special courts. The Madurai bench of the high court handles appellate cases related to the fourteen districts–Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, Madurai, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar, Theni, Sivaganga, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, and Karur districts of Tamil Nadu.

Court complex

From 1862 to 1892, the High Court functioned in a building in Periamet, which earlier housed the Supreme Court of Madras and the collector office. Construction on the new court complex at George Town began in October 1888. The building was designed in Indo-Saracenic architecture by J. W. Brassington and later expanded under the guidance of Henry Irwin. As per the original plan, 11 court halls were planned in the main building at an estimate of ₹0.95 million (equivalent to ₹500 million or US$5.2 million in 2026). Of these 11 court halls, six were meant for the High Court, four for the small causes court and one for the civil court. An additional building to host the lawyers, which was connected to the main building.

Located close to the Chennai harbour, the court premises already incorporated a lighthouse, which was raised to a height of 175 ft (53 m) during the construction of the courthouse. Most of the material for the construction were sourced locally except the steel and ornamental tiles, and local artisans were used for the work. When the construction was completed in 1892, the cost had risen to ₹12.98 million (equivalent to ₹5.5 billion or US$57 million in 2026). It was officially inaugurated on 12 July 1892, by Beilby Lawley, then Governor of Madras, who handed over the key to the Chief Justice Arthur Collins. It is one of the largest court complexes in the world by area.

During the First World War, the high court building was damaged when SMS Emden, a German light cruiser attacked the port on 22 September 1914. The old lighthouse was closed in the later 20th century after a new lighthouse was added at the southern end of the Marina beach. The complex was subsequently expanded, and the civil and other courts were subsequently shifted to other buildings on the campus, and the main building is exclusively used by the high court.

The Madurai bench of the high court consists of a four storied building spread across 22,929 m² (246,810 sq ft), which houses the offices, and a two storied court building, spread across 15,209 m² (163,710 sq ft), which hosts 24 court halls, and the judges' chambers.

Composition

The court is led by a Chief Justice and has a sanctioned strength of 75 judges including the chief justice. The current chief justice is Manindra Mohan Shrivastava, who was appointed in July 2025. The judges of the court are led by orderlies who bear a ceremonial mace made of silver, a practice from the British era, which has been abadnoned in most high courts and the Supreme Court of India.

Notable judgments

Uphold the right to life of children with disabilities

In a significant development, the Court in, S.Muneeswaran and Another v. State, recognized that a child with an intellectual disability has equal right to life irrespective of the challenges associated with raising the child, the Court noted:

No one has the right to take the law into their own hands and extinguish the life of another person. Even today, many parents make immense sacrifices, and even lay down their lives, for children born with disabilities...

— G.K. Ilanthiraiyan and R. Poornima, S.Muneeswaran and Another vs. State, Para 26

List of judges

Former Chief Justices

Judges elevated as Chief Justices

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

Judges appointed as acting Chief Justice

Judges elevated to Supreme Court

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