Amongst the various tourist destinations that Mumbai boasts of, the Bombay High Court is quite an important one. Scroll further and read more about the salient features of this institution of justice.

Bombay High Court

Location: Fort Area, South Mumbai
Built in: 1878
Attraction: Gothic Style of Architecture
How to Reach: One can easily reach Bombay High Court by boarding buses or trains, or by hiring autos or taxis from the city.

Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court is located in Fort precinct of Mumbai, and it is the institution of justice for the states of Goa, Maharashtra and also the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. It is one of the most distinguished and oldest courts in the country. The eminence of Bombay High Court is evident in the fact that the first Chief Justice, the first Attorney General and even the first Solicitor General of independent India, all had their roots in this high court. In total, the Bombay High Court has a strong bench comprising 75 judges and similar to other high courts, the decisions taken by the Bombay High Court can only be appealed for or challenged in the Supreme Court of India. This structure, 562 feet (171 m) long and 187 feet (57 m) wide, was completed in November 1878 and the first hearing was held on 10 January 1879. To know more interesting facts about the Bombay High Court, scroll further.

Institution Of Justice

The Judges
With around 75 judges in the court, the Bombay High Court handles lakhs of civil and criminal cases. Honorable Mr. Justice Mohit S. Shah is the present Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Among all the prominent Chief Justices of Bombay High Court, Honorable Justice S.B. Bhasme is considered to have had a highly reputable tenure. He resigned from the high court in 1979 to move over to the Supreme Court. His judgments solved matters which largely affected the public good.

History & Architecture
As per the 'Indian High Court Act' of 1861 passed by the Queen of England under the great seal of the United Kingdom, the High Courts of Calcutta, Bombay and Madras were set up. Bombay High Court came into being on 14 August 1862 and the present building was designed by a British engineer, Col. J.A. Fuller. The structure follows a Gothic revival architecture dating back to the early English style. Although the name of the city changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1996, the name of the High court remained the same i.e., 'The Bombay High Court'. This beautiful structure built with black stone is one of the oldest and biggest courts in Western India and has benches in Panaji, Aurangabad and Nagpur. Along the west of the central tower, there are two octagonal towers and statues of 'Justice' and 'Mercy' on the top of this building which serve as a source of inspiration for law abiding citizens.

Anniversary Celebrations
In 2012, several programs were organized in the High Court to mark the completion of 150 years of its establishment. With regard to this, a special postal cover was inaugurated and released by Shri Milind Deora, the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, on 14 August 2012 at the Central Court Hall in the court's main building. Also, an exhibition of important documents, artifacts and historical articles was held and inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Prithviraj Chavan.

Bombay High Curt is associated with not only the history of the city, but also with the history of India. Try visiting this historical structure if you ever plan to visit Mumbai.