Karnataka High Court

The High Court of Karnataka (IAST: Karnāṭaka Ućća Nyāyālaya, commonly referred to as the Karnataka High Court and formerly known as the Mysore High Court, is the highest judicial authority of the Indian state of Karnataka. The court's principal bench is located in Bengaluru, the capital city of Karnataka, with additional benches in Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi. In Bengaluru, the High Court operates from a red-painted brick building known as the Attara Kacheri, located opposite the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the Karnataka Legislature.

High Court of Karnataka Karnāṭaka Ućća Nyāyālaya
Emblem of the court
12.9779°N 77.5926°E / 12.9779; 77.5926
Established	1884 (141 years ago) (1884)
Jurisdiction	Karnataka
Location	Principal bench Bengaluru Additional benches Dharwad Kalaburagi
Coordinates	12.9779°N 77.5926°E / 12.9779; 77.5926
Composition method	Presidential appointment on advice of the Chief Justice of India and the Governor of Karnataka.
Authorised by	Constitution of India
Judge term length	Mandatory retirement at age 62
Number of positions	62
Language	Kannada, English
Website	https://judiciary.karnataka.gov.in
Chief Justice
Currently	Vibhu Bakhru
Since	19 July 2025

Composition

The High Court is composed of the Chief Justice of Karnataka and other judges, who are appointed by the President of India.^[1] As of February 2022, there are 45 judges in the High Court,^[2] out of a sanctioned maximum strength of 62.^[3] Valluri Kameswar Rao has been the Acting Chief Justice since 30 May 2025.

Powers and jurisdiction

The High Court is the highest judicial authority within the State of Karnataka. It has superintendence over all courts and tribunals, such as district courts, operating within Karnataka, except those of the armed forces.^[4][5] Appeals against judgments of lower courts, such as district-level civil and sessions courts, are heard in the High Court. Appeals against judgments of the High Court are heard by the Supreme Court of India.

The High Court is a court of record and has the authority to prosecute for contempt of itself.^[6]

The Karnataka High Court has two permanent benches at Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi. The permanent bench at Hubballi-Dharwada became operational on 24 August 2013, and The Kalaburagi bench became operational on 31 August 2013.^[7] Prior to the establishment of permanent benches, Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi had circuit benches of Karnataka High Court starting in 2008. The Hubballi-Dharwada bench was inaugurated by then Chief Justice of India K.G.Balakrishnan on 4 July 2008 and became operational on 7 July 2008.^[8]

Premises

Main article: Attara Kacheri

Rear facade of Attara Kacheri, the Bengaluru seat of the Court's principal bench (in Neoclassical architecture style)

Attara Kacheri, the Bengaluru seat of the Court's principal bench

The High Court's principal bench is located in Bengaluru, in a building called the Attara Kacheri. It is a two-storry building made of stone and brick, painted red, in the neoclassical style of architecture. The building was constructed between 1864 and 1868 ^[9] and is located in Bengaluru's Cubbon Park.

Karnataka High Court Plaque

There was a proposal to demolish this building in the year 1982.^[10] A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the High Court to prevent demolition. This was the first PIL ever filed in the court, and the case was heard in the same building that was supposed to be demolished.^[11] The petition was dismissed by the High Court, but in 1985 the proposal to demolish the building was dropped after the Supreme Court directed the state government to reconsider demolition.

Heritage

Lord Cubbon, the then Viceroy of Colonial India was responsible for building Attara Kacheri. The building features Greco-Roman styled architecture with red paint and a sprawling expansive layout, marked by a distinguished central structure. A portion of the High Court building served as Attara Kacheri, during the Mysore Kingdom era, housing various public offices.

The entrance of the Attara Kacheri building now faces the side opposite to the Vidhana Soudha, which was originally the rear side of the former Attara Kacheri. Over a hundred years later, when the building became the High Court, it began to show signs of age and wear. This led to the proposal for its demolition during the tenure of Kengal Hanumanthaiah and again in 1984, when there was a plan to replace it with a new structure. These proposals faced significant protests from citizens who opposed dismantling the colonial-era building.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed, but the High Court dismissed the petition. The case was subsequently taken to the Supreme Court. In consideration of the public concerns, the government decided not to demolish the building but instead to renovate and expand it to meet modern needs. The government of Karnataka assigned the task to the engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD).^[12] Preparations began in 1986 to renovate the old structure and add a new parallel block, designed in the same style as the original Attara Kacheri.

In 1990s, the Karnataka Government successfully rejuvenated the Attara Kacheri building, adding new blocks alongside the existing structure. The old building was reinforced to accommodate the updated requirements. The Northern Block was formally Inaugurated by Lokayuktha Venkatachala, with a plaque installed during the event.^[13]

Notable judges

Judges of the Karnataka High Court, including E. S. Venkataramiah, M. N. Venkatachaliah, S. Rajendra Babu and H.L. Dattu, later went on to become Chief Justices of India.^[14] Additionally, several other judges, such as Kalmanje Jagannatha Shetty, N. Venkatachala, R. V. Raveendran, Shivaraj Patil, Venkate Gopala Gowda, A.S Bopanna, Mohan Shantanagoudar, S. Abdul Nazeer, A. S. Oka, B. V. Nagarathna and Aravind Kumar were appointed to the Supreme Court of India.^[15]

Chief Justices

P. Mahadevayya, M. Sadasivayya, Nittoor Srinivasa Rau, Sam Piroj Bharucha and G. T. Nanavati were among the notable Chief Justices who presided over this court.

List of former Chief Justices

High Court of Mysore

N	Chief Justice	Term
1	Charles George Plumer	1884 – July 1890
2	Sir T. R. A. Thumboo Chetty	July 1890 – 4 November 1895
3	James William Best	4 November 1895 – 1907
4	Stanley Ismay	1908–1912
5	P. Mahadevayya	1931–1934
6	Justice Palecanda Belliappa Medapa	1948 -1955

High Court of Karnataka

#	Chief Justice	Term
1	R. Venkataramaiah	1 November 1956 – 16 July 1957
2	S. R. Das Gupta	25 July 1957 – 13 August 1961
3	Nittoor Srinivasa Rau	29 March 1962 – 7 August 1963
4	A. R. Somanath Iyer	23 November 1969 – 29 December 1969
5	M. Sadasivayya	30 December 1969 – 16 September 1970
6	A. Narayana Pai	17 September 1970 – 6 June 1973
7	G. K. Govinda Bhat	7 June 1973 – 14 December 1977
8	D. M. Chandrashekar	22 March 1978 – 25 September 1982
9	K. Bhimaiah	28 October 1982 – 10 April 1983
10	V. S. Malimath	6 February 1984 – 24 October 1985
11	Prem Chand Jain	28 August 1986 – 16 September 1989
12	S. Mohan	26 October 1989 – 7 October 1991
13	S. P. Bharucha	1 January 1991 – 30 June 1992
14	S. B. Majumdar	2 July 1993 – 13 September 1994
15	G. T. Nanavati	28 September 1994 – 4 March 1995
16	M. L. Pendse	28 July 1995 – 25 March 1996
17	S. A. Hakeem	3 May 1996 – 9 May 1996
18	R. P. Sethi	29 June 1996 – 6 January 1999
19	Y. Bhaskar Rao	9 March 1999 – 26 June 2000
20	P. V. Reddi	21 October 2000 – 16 August 2001
21	Nagendra Kumar Jain	31 August 2001 – 20 October 2004
22	Nauvdip Kumar Sodhi	19 November 2004 – 29 November 2005
23	Cyriac Joseph	7 January 2006 – 6 July 2008
24	P. D. Dinakaran	8 August 2008 – 7 August 2010
25	Jagdish Singh Khehar	8 August 2010 – 12 September 2011
26	Vikramajit Sen	24 December 2011 – 24 December 2012
27	Dhirendra Hiralal Waghela	7 March 2013 – 1 June 2015
28	Subhro Kamal Mukherjee	23 February 2016– 9 October 2017
29	Dinesh Maheshwari	12 February 2018 – 17 January 2019
30	Abhay Shreeniwas Oka	10 May 2019 – 30 August 2021
31	Ritu Raj Awasthi	11 October 2021 – 2 July 2022
32	Prasanna B. Varale	15 October 2022 – 24 January 2024
33	P. S. Dinesh Kumar	3 February 2024 – 24 February 2024
34	Nilay Vipinchandra Anjaria	25 February 2024 – 29 May 2025
35	Vibhu Bakhru	– Incumbent

Chief justice and judges

The current sitting judges of the court are as follows:^[16]

#	Name	Position	From
1	Vibhu Bakhru	Chief Justice	17 April 2013
2	Anu Sivaraman	Permanent Judge	10 April 2015
3	Kottravva Somappa Mudagal	Permanent Judge	14 November 2016
4	Jayant Banerji	Permanent Judge	22 September 2017
5	D K Singh	Permanent Judge	22 September 2017
6	Shankar Ganapathi Pandit	Permanent Judge	14 February 2018
7	R. Devdas	Permanent Judge	14 February 2018
8	Bhotanhosur Mallikarjuna Shyam Prasad	Permanent Judge	14 February 2018
9	Siddappa Sunil Dutt Yadav	Permanent Judge	14 February 2018
10	Mohammad Nawaz	Permanent Judge	2 June 2018
11	Harekoppa Thimmana Gowda Narendra Prasad	Permanent Judge	2 June 2018
12	Hethur Puttaswamygowda Sandesh	Permanent Judge	3 November 2018
13	S.R. Krishna Kumar	Permanent Judge	23 September 2019
14	Ashok Subhashchandra Kinagi	Permanent Judge	23 September 2019
15	Suraj Govindaraj	Permanent Judge	23 September 2019
16	Sachin Shankar Magadum	Permanent Judge	23 September 2019
17	Jyoti Mulimani	Permanent Judge	11 November 2019
18	Nataraj Rangaswamy	Permanent Judge	11 November 2019
19	Pradeep Singh Yerur	Permanent Judge	11 November 2019
20	Maheshan Nagaprasanna	Permanent Judge	26 November 2019
21	Maralur Indrakumar Arun	Permanent Judge	7 January 2020
22	Engalaguppe Seetharamaiah Indiresh	Permanent Judge	7 January 2020
23	Ravi Venkappa Hosmani	Permanent Judge	7 January 2020
24	Savanur Vishwajith Shetty	Permanent Judge	28 April 2020
25	Lalitha Kanneganti	Permanent Judge	2 May 2020
26	Shivashankar Amarannavar	Permanent Judge	4 May 2020
27	Makkimane Ganeshaiah Uma	Permanent Judge	4 May 2020
28	Vedavyasachar Srishananda	Permanent Judge	4 May 2020
29	Hanchate Sanjeevkumar	Permanent Judge	4 May 2020
30	Mohammed Ghouse Shukure Kamal	Permanent Judge	17 March 2021
31	Khazi Jaibunnisa Mohiuddin	Permanent Judge	25 March 2021
32	Chillakur Sumalatha	Permanent Judge	15 October 2021
33	P Sree Sudha	Permanent Judge	15 October 2021
34	Anant Ramanath Hegde	Permanent Judge	8 November 2021
35	Siddaiah Rachaiah	Permanent Judge	8 November 2021
36	Kannakuzhyil Sreedharan Hemalekha	Permanent Judge	8 November 2021
37	K Manmadha Rao	Permanent Judge	8 December 2021
38	Cheppudira Monappa Poonacha	Permanent Judge	13 June 2022
39	Gurusiddaiah Basavaraja	Additional Judge	16 August 2022
40	Chandrashekhar Mrutyunjaya Joshi	Permanent Judge	16 August 2022
41	Umesh Manjunathbhat Adiga	Permanent Judge	16 August 2022
42	Ramachandra Dattatray Huddar	Permanent Judge	24 January 2023
43	Venkatesh Naik Thavaryanaik	Permanent Judge	24 January 2023
44	Vijaykumar Adagouda Patil	Permanent Judge	9 February 2023
45	Rajesh Rai Kallangala	Permanent Judge	9 February 2023
46	Kurubarahalli Venkataramareddy Aravind	Additional Judge	25 October 2023
47	Taj Ali Moulasab Nadaf	Additional Judge	17 February 2025

Judges who served as Chief Justice of India

CJIs whose Parent High Court was Karnataka

#	Name of the Chief Justice	Image	Date of Appointment as Chief Justice	Date of Retirement	Tenure	Appointed By	Date of elevation to Supreme Court Nominated by	Total tenure in Supreme court (including as CJI)	Tenure in Karnataka High Court	Office at the time of elevation to Supreme Court	Remarks
1	Engalaguppe Seetharamiah Venkataramiah		19 June 1989	17 December 1989	181 days	Ramaswamy Venkataraman	8 March 1979 Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud	10 years, 284 days	25 June 1970 – 7 March 1979 (8 years, 255 days)	Judge of Karnataka High Court	19th Chief Justice of India
2	Manepalli Narayanrao Venkatachaliah		12 February 1993	24 October 1994	1 year, 254 days	Shankar Dayal Sharma	5 October 1987 Raghunandan Swarup Pathak	7 years, 19 days	6 November 1975 – 4 October 1987 (11 years, 332 days)	Judge of Karnataka High Court	25th Chief Justice of India
3	S. Rajendra Babu		2 May 2004	31 May 2004	29 days	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	25 September 1997 Jagdish Sharan Verma	6 years, 249 days	19 February 1988 – 24 September 1997 (9 years, 217 days)	Judge of Karnataka High Court	34th Chief Justice of India
4	Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu		28 September 2014	2 December 2015	1 year, 65 days	Pranab Mukherjee	17 December 2008 K. G. Balakrishnan	6 years, 350 days	18 December 1995 – 11 February 2007 (11 years, 55 days)	27th Chief Justice of Kerala High Court	42nd Chief Justice of India

CJIs whose Parent High Court was not Karnataka but they served in Karnataka High Court

#	Name of the Chief Justice	Image	Date of Appointment as Chief Justice	Date of Retirement	Tenure	Appointed By	Date of elevation to Supreme Court Nominated by	Total tenure in Supreme court (including as CJI)	Tenure in Karnataka High Court	Office at the time of elevation to Supreme Court	Date of initial appointment as Judge Parent High Court	Remarks
1	Tirath Singh Thakur		3 December 2015	3 January 2017	1 year, 31 days	Pranab Mukherjee	17 November 2009 K. G. Balakrishnan	7 years, 47 days	5 March 1994 – July 2004	28th Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court	16 February 1994 Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh	43rd Chief Justice of India

Additional Benches

Karnataka High court bench in Kalaburagi.

The Karnataka High Court currently operates in Bengaluru, Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi. For many years there was a demand for additional benches due to the difficulty faced by people from northern regions of the state, as Bengaluru is located in the southeastern corner. This issue led to agitation, including boycott of court proceedings by lawyers in the northern region. In response, the government decided to establish circuit benches in Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi in 2006.^[17] The new benches were inaugurated on 4 and 5 July 2008, respectively. Subsequently, there was a push to make both the Hubballi-Dharwada and Kalaburagi benches permanent. As a result, the Hubballi-Dharwadaa bench became permanent on from 25 August 2013, followed by the Kalaburagi bench on 31 August 2013.

Controversies

In late 2002, 14 newspapers and periodicals reported allegations of a sex scandal involving some judges of the Karnataka High Court in Mysore. In response, the Chief Justice formed a high-level judicial inquiry committee to investigate the matter. The committee later acquitted the judges, as no substantial evidence could be found to support the allegations.^[18][19][20]

As of 2023, approximately 2.7 lakh cases were pending in Karnataka High Court, which is facing a significant backlog. The court has struggled with delays due to challenges in adhering to the Karnataka Civil Procedure Code and delivering timely justice.^[21]

As of August 2024, approximately 20 Lakh cases are pending across the state, with the High Court serving as the final custodian of justice in these matters.^[22]