Orissa High Court


The Orissa High Court is the High Court for the state of Odisha.
The then Bengal Presidency was a vast province including present day Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal. It was difficult to administratively manage such a vast area, inhabited by people speaking in different languages and having different traditions. Administrative exigencies required separation of such areas which originally did not from part of Bengal. So, new province of Bihar and Orissa was formed on 22 March 1912. However, the said new province of Bihar and Odisha was under the jurisdiction of Calcutta High Court.
On 9 February 1916, in exercise of the powers under Section 113 of the Government of India Act, 1915, the King of England issued letters of patent constituting High Court of Patna. Odisha was placed under the jurisdiction of Patna High Court. Although, on 18 May 1916, Circuit Court of Patna High Court for Odisha held its first sitting at Cuttack.
On 1 April 1936, Odisha was made a separate province but no separate High Court was provided for it. The Government of India agreed to create a new High Court, and for that purpose the Government of India issued the Odisha High Court Order, 1948, under the Section 229 of the Government of India Act, 1935, on 30 April 1948. Finally, on 26 July 1948, Odisha High Court was formally inaugurated.
The seat of the court is Cuttack. The court has a sanctioned judge strength of 27.

The Chief Justice

Justice Mohammad Rafiq is the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court since 27 April 2020.

Former Chief Justices

Judges who served as Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of India