Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court is the High Court of the state of Uttarakhand in India. The Uttarakhand High Court was established on 9 November 2000 after the separation of the state of Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh.

The sanctioned judge strength at the time of creation in 2000 was 7; this was increased to 9 in 2003. Justice Ashok Desai was the inaugural holder of the office. Former Chief Justices of Uttarakhand Sarosh Homi Kapadia and Jagdish Singh Khehar later went on to become Chief Justice of India. Ritu Bahri is the current and first woman Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court. She assumed office on 4 February 2024.

History
The Uttarakhand High Court is a relatively new addition to India's judiciary system. The building of Uttarakhand High Court was constructed by Santoni MacDonald in 1900.

Uttarakhand was carved out from the state of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000 under the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000. At the time of the creation of the state, the High Court of Uttarakhand was also established on the same day.

The Uttarakhand High Court is located in Nainital, a scenic hill station in the Kumaon region of the state.

The High Court consisted of just five court rooms at the beginning but later more court rooms were added. A huge Chief Justice Court Block and a Block of Lawyers’ chambers were built in 2007.

Status of rivers as legal persons
In March 2017, Uttarakhand High Court's single-judge bench presided by Justice Rajeev Sharma, mandated that the rivers Ganges and Yamuna as well as all water bodies are "living entities" i.e. "legal person", and appointed 3 persons as trustees to protect the rights of rivers against the pollution caused by the humans.

Rohit Sagar v. State of Uttarakhand
Rohit Sagar v. State of Uttarakhand (2021) is a case where Uttarakhand High Court's two-judges bench presided by Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Narayan Singh Dhanik, held that the legal adults have the fundamental right to choose their own partners, and directed the Uttarakhand Police to provide necessary protection for the individuals and their property.

List of sitting judges of the Uttarakhand High Court
There are currently seven sitting judges including the Chief Justice, with four posts of judges lying vacant. Following is the list of the current serving judges of the Uttarakhand High Court, ordered by seniority.

Registrar General
Ashish Naithani is the current Registrar General of the Uttarakhand High Court. He assumed office on 31 October 2023.