This article is written by Sadhvi Bhardwaj, of Indore Institute of Law, Indore. This article deals with the origin of Allahabad High Court and its present working culture.

Introduction

Allahabad High Court – Structural Organisation

The Allahabad High Court consists of the officers and officials of Registry with the apex two posts Registrar General and Senior Registrar reserving for HJS (Higher Judicial Service) officers and both the posts are filled up from amongst one of the senior most HJS officers. Registrar General is the head of all the Officers and Officials working in the High Court. The Office staff at High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is broadly divided into four Cadres:

General office Cadre – General Office cadre is the nodal cadre for handling all the administrative and judicial work in the Hon’ble court and ensuring judicial work is carried out in a streamlined and time-bound manner.

BS Cadre and PS Cadre – BS (Bench Secretary) and PS (Private Secretary) cadres are specialized cadres and are attached to Hon’ble judges to assist them in judicial proceedings and other miscellaneous work. These posts are filled through departmental examination.

Computer Cadre- It consists of officers and officials in following hierarchy:

•        System Manager
•        Senior System Analyst
•        System Analyst
•        Programmer Gr. 1
•        Programmer Gr. 2
•        Computer Operator A, B & C

The origin of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad.

The High Court in Allahabad was conceived on 18.06.1866 under the Royal Charter of Her Majesty Queen Victoria i.e. The Letters Patent of 17.3.1866. It procured its present status under the United Provinces High Courts (Amalgamation Order) 1948 upheld w.e.f 19.07.1948. The High Courts Act, 1861, ordered by British Parliament, accommodated the substitution of Supreme Courts of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay and for the foundation of High Courts in their places. It likewise accommodated the foundation of High Courts in some other piece of Her Majesty’s regions, excluded in the purview of another High Court by Letters Patent.

The High Court in Allahabad was set up by the Letters Patent of 17.03.1866 for the North Western Province supplanting the old “Sudder Diwani Adalat” of Agra, which arrived at an end on 13.06.1866. The principal Chief Justice and the Judges of the High Court of North-Western Provinces at Allahabad were named in the above Letters Patent itself. For a long time, amid 1866 to 1869 the High Court in this manner framed, kept on working at Agra and it was not before the pre-winter of 1869 when the Chief Justice first sat at Allahabad.

Establishment of the new province – Oudh

In 1834, the Upper Provinces were isolated from the Presidency of Bengal and another administration of Agra was constituted which was superseded by the North-Western Provinces in 1836. The zone of North-Western Provinces and the territory of Oudh were named as United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in the year 1902. The entire territory was set under the ward of the Governor in 1921 on the execution of India Constitutional Reforms. After the decisions of 1920, a Legislative Council was framed at Lucknow in1921 and Lucknow was made the Capital. The territory was named “Joined Provinces” in 1937.

Prior, the domains of twelve areas of Oudh, to be specific, Lucknow, Faizabad, Sultanpur, Rai Bareilly, Pratapgarh, Barabanki, Gonda, Behraich, Sitapur, Kheri, Hardoi and Unnao, which were under the British Crown were brought under the locale of the Judicial Commissioner of Oudh at Lucknow vide the Government of India Order dated 04.02.1865. In 1925 vide U.P. Act No.IV of 1925, the Chief Court of Oudh was constituted with one Chief Justice and four puisne Judges swapping the Judicial Commissioner’s Court for the above Districts. In the above foundation, two courts i.e. the High Court in Allahabad for North-Western Provinces and the Chief Court of Oudh at Lucknow, were at the same time working and were practicing the forces of the High Courts over the separate domains. The current two courts additionally alluded to in Section 219 of the Government of India Act, 1935 were amalgamated and the new High Court of Judicature at Allahabad was set up w.e.f. 26.07.1948 under the United Provinces High Courts (Amalgamation Order) 1948 which was issued in activities of forces under Section 229 of the Government of India Act, 1935.

The Amalgamation Order of 1948

The High Court of Allahabad practices supervisory justice and control over the subordinate legal by uprightness of Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts Act, 1887. The Amalgamation Order 1948 in Article 3 gives that the High Court in Allahabad and the Chief Court in Oudh might constitute one High Court by the name of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. Article 3 of the Amalgamation Order – 1948 is quoted below: –

“As from the appointed day, the High Court in Allahabad and the Chief Court in Oudh shall be amalgamated and shall constitute one High Court by the name of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad (hereinafter referred to as “the new High Court”)”

A plain reading of Article 14 of the Amalgamation Order, 1948, makes it clear that the Judges of the High Court might sit at Allahabad or at such different places as the Chief Justice may name with the approval of the Governor. It additionally gives that at the very least two judges as the Chief Justice every once in a while, choose, should sit at Lucknow all together exercise jurisdiction and power in regard of cases emerging in the region of Oudh region. At the end of the day, a bench of the new High Court of Judicature was named at Allahabad with another bench or bench or at the very least two judges at Lucknow just for the twelve districts of Oudh territory. Article 14 of the Amalgamation Order 1948 is reproduced herein below: –

“The new High Court, and the Judges and division Courts thereof, shall sit at Allahabad or at such other places in the United Provinces as the Chief Justice may, with the approval of the Governor of the United Provinces, appoint: Provided that unless the Governor of the United Provinces with the concurrence of the Chief Justice otherwise directs, such judges of the new High Court, not less than two in number, as the Chief Justice may from time to time nominate, shall sit at Lucknow in order to exercise in respect of cases arising in such area in Oudh as the Chief Justice may direct, the Jurisdiction and power for the time being vested in the new High Court: Provided further that the Chief Justice may in His discretion order that any case or class of cases arising in the said areas shall be heard at Allahabad.”

Late enforcement of the Indian Constitution

The Constitution of India was authorized considerably later on after the development of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. In this manner, the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad isn’t a making of the Constitution of India. It owes its birthplace to the High Courts Act of 1861, Letters Patent of 1866 and the Amalgamation Order of 1948. The Constitution of India, not the slightest bit condenses, adjusts or influences the expert, ward, status and the presence of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad. It, in any case, asserts and endorses of the High Court for each State including one for the State of U.P. Article 214 of the Constitution of India in unequivocal terms gives that there might be a High Court for each State. Article 214 of the Constitution of India is reproduced below: –

Art. 214: “There shall be a High Court for each State. “The place of sitting of the High Court at Allahabad, Lucknow and such other places as the Chief Justice may appoint, may not be misconstrued to mean creating a new High Court within the same State.

The absence of permanent bench in the court.

In a reported five judges choice of the Supreme Court of India on account of Nasirudin Vs. State Transport Appellate Tribunal, AIR 1976 SC 331, the Hon’ble Supreme Court following out the historical backdrop of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad inferred that there is no perpetual bench of the High Court at Allahabad. The benches at Allahabad and Lucknow might be changed as per arrangements of the Amalgamation Order 1948 i.e. at the attentiveness of the Chief Justice with the endorsement of the Governor. The Chief Justice of the High Court has no energy to increment or diminishing the zones of the Oudh every now and then.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court in yet another case, Federation of Bar Association in Karnataka Vs. Association of India announced in JT 2000 SC 303 completely decided that there is no principal appropriate to have a bench of the High Court at somewhere else on the ground of separation nor the foundation of the bench can be chosen the enthusiastic and wistful contemplations. The High Court itself is the most appropriate apparatus to choose whether it is fundamental and attainable to have a bench outside the essential bench. At the point when the board of trustees of judges constituted by the Chief Justice has disfavoured the foundation of a bench, the Chief Justice can’t be pressurized to take an alternate remain through strikes and disturbance.

Formation of another bench in western Uttar Pradesh

It is from the newspapers that the present Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs had kept in touch with the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court looking for his supposition on the development of a bench of the High Court in western Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Justice on discussion with ten senior-most Judges of the Court had rejected agree to build up another bench of the High Court, as had been done progressively by the past Chief Justices before. In this specific situation, one can’t bear to dismiss report of Justice Jaswant Singh Commission which was set up to think about the modalities, attractive quality and the achievability of constituting or making a bench of the Allahabad High Court somewhere else in the State of U.P in perspective of the long-standing interest of a bench in western piece of the State. The Commission prescribed for a circuit bench at Agra from the separation perspective of the general population of the slope area of the State who was neither one of the wells associated by street or generally with Allahabad nor were had of adequate intends to movement such long separation for prosecution. In any case, the said proposals of the Commission lost all its importance once a different State of Uttaranchal was set up by the U.P State Reorganization Act, 2000 w.e.f. 9.11.2000 for the thirteen slope regions of the State of Uttar Pradesh, to be specific, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Dehradun, Nainital, Almora, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh Nagar, Bageshwar, Champawat, Rudraprayag, and Haridwar.

A different High Court for the State of Uttaranchal was constituted around the same time under Section 26 of the Act which enabled the President to advise the place of Principal bench of the High Court and the Chief Justice of the said High Court to tell, if important, extra place or places of sitting of the said High Court with the endorsement of the Governor. Indeed, generally, the said proposals of the Commission are of no outcome as there is nothing on record openly to demonstrate that the Government at any point acknowledged the said report.

Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.

The retiring age of Chief Justice is 62 years and Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale is the present Chief Justice of the Court and following is the list of Chief Justices till date: –

Reporting and citation

The Allahabad High Court Judicature provides with private journals that report Allahabad High Court Judgements such as: –

1.   Allahabad Criminal Cases
2.   Allahabad Law Journal
3.    Allahabad Daily Judgements
4.    Allahabad Civil Journal
5.    Allahabad Weekly Cases
6.    Allahabad Rent Cases
7.    Revenue Decisions
8.    U.P. Local Bodies and Education Cases
9.    Lucknow Civil Decisions (LCD)
10.  Judicial Interpretation on Crimes (JIC)

Landmark decisions of the Allahabad High Court

There are plenty of cases lying under the Allahabad High Court, that are resolved or are waiting to get resolved but what had earned the court a great fame is its judicial participation in those cases which has resulted in shaping the Indian Legal System and obviously their unforgettable judgments made by the eminent jury. The court till date has delivered a number of judgments that kept the powerful ruling class in check and has played an important role in establishing the rule of law in India post-independence. Some of those are pen-down below:-

• The Indira Verdict– Under this, the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was convicted by a single-judge bench of Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha of the Allahabad High Court on 12 June 1975. Facts state that Indira Gandhi won the 1971 parliamentary election from Raebareli defeating Rajnarayan, a socialist leader. She was challenged by him on the grounds of violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and electoral malpractices and was even found guilty. The court in her judgment prohibited her from contesting elections for six years and also excluded her of all electoral posts.

• The Babri Judgement– Under the following, the Allahabad High Court ruled that Ram Lalla, the Nirmohi Akhara, and the Waqf Board will be the joint-title holder of the Ayodhya disputed land over ‘Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi’ suit and thus, the land will be divided into three settlements. This judgment was given after six years of filing suit by a special full bench of the court. The decision made was to distribute two-thirds of the disputed land to Hindu claimants, one-third to the Sunni Muslim Waqf Board. Also by the majority of 2-1, the court claimed that birthplace of Lord Ram was right beneath the central dome of the destroyed mosque.

• The ban on ‘Caste Rallies’- The Allahabad High Court judgment over banning of caste rallies with immediate effect issuing notices to the Centre, Uttar Pradesh Government, in July 2013 was a prominent decision taken for refining politics. A bench of Justices Uma Nath Singh and Mahendra Dayal put brakes on such rallies in the most populated state of the nation via the pronouncement on a PIL lodged for the ban on rallies that target the caste of the common folk for gaining maximum votes during elections.

• Kids to study only in ‘Government Schools’– Though the Indian Government Schools provide ninety percent (90%) children’s’ populace with the necessities required, still face the neglected situations. Looking at such, the Allahabad High Court in August 2015, gave a tremendous decision over the education of the children of all Government officials. The judgment was to send the children of all the Government authorities only to Government schools for getting educated. This was to ensure that these schools run in a good condition and the responsibility to keep a record and check of this was awarded to the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh.

• Judgment on the Triple Talaq– Of all the judgments till date, ‘Triple Talaq’ is the most controversial. At present, this atrocity has disturbed the judicial conscience and is lying pending in the apex court. However, the decision given by a single-judge bench of Justice Suneet Kumar in December 2017, is the most remarkable one. The Allahabad High Court considered the act of Triple Talaq to be cruel and unconstitutional. It impedes and drags India from being a nation and ruins the rights of Muslim wives. The court stated that no personal law can be above the Constitution and thus, has banned it.

Controversies

Being the nation’s largest high court, the Allahabad High Court has always been in the limelight due to various controversies regarding its judicature and the working of its law counselors. Some of the most recent controversial matters are discussed below:-

• A list of 33 senior lawyers prescribed by the Allahabad high court collegium for the judgeship in the nation’s biggest high court has stirred a discussion with no less than 33% of them purportedly identified with sitting and resigned judges of the Supreme Court and the Allahabad HC. A portion of the recommended names incorporates the brother-in-law of a sitting SC judge, a first cousin of another SC judge other than children and nephews of a few previous judges of the apex court and the Allahabad HC. Altogether, no less than 10 advocates in the list of 33 are said to be identified with previous or sitting judges, other than a senior supporter who is allegedly the law partner of the wife of a senior politician in Delhi. The law ministry received several complaints from the Allahabad and Lucknow bar against the proposals and has asked the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for a record verification on every one of these legal advisors. It is likewise checking if the HC collegium has given sufficient opportunity to candidates from the SC/ST, OBC and minority networks, other than ladies. In the three arrangements of in excess of 83 recommendations made by the Allahabad HC since 2015, not very many had a place with OBC/SC/ST, ladies or the minority community.

• The Supreme Court had issued a notice on 4 May’18 in an appeal filed by the Allahabad High Court against its own judgment dealing with the question of superintendence of the High Court over family courts. The High Court was represented by Advocates Jagjit Singh Chhabra and Yashvardhan while the matter was heard acknowledged by a Bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R Banumathi, which issued a notice to the respondent, Uttar Pradesh Judicial Services Association.

• Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on 31 January’18 recommended the impeachment of Justice Shri Narayan Shukla, the eighth senior-most judge of the Allahabad High Court, following an adverse report about him by an in-house panel set up by the CJI. The Supreme Court noted how Justice Shukla, on September 4, even made some corrections to the September 1 order. When the impeachment motion is moved in Parliament, an investigation is conducted. If the findings of guilt are confirmed, the impeachment motion changes to removing of the judge through votes of the majority. However, the CJI has set the process in motion with a letter to the Prime Minister for the impeachment of the judge. The trigger was a scathing report of a misconduct by an internal probe into a medical college admission scam by the committee led by Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee.

• The Supreme Court on 22 October’18 upheld its controversial remarks that something was “rotten” in the Allahabad High Court where the “uncle judges syndrome” was rampant and needed cleansing. On 26 November’18, the remarks were made in a 12-page order while making the insinuation that several judges of the high court suffer from ‘uncle judge’ syndrome, which refers to judges passing favorable orders for parties represented by lawyers known to them. This remark was made because of the rejection of the arguments of senior counsel P.P Rao that even a clarification that some are excellent and good judges would still cause suspicion on the integrity of the judges. All this was done under the bench of justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra while dismissing the Allahabad High Court’s application for expunging of the remarks.