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.^[1]

Uttarakhand High Court
29.3958°N 79.4477°E / 29.3958; 79.4477
Established	9 November 2000; 24 years ago (2000-11-09)
Jurisdiction	Uttarakhand
Location	Nainital, Uttarakhand
Coordinates	29.3958°N 79.4477°E / 29.3958; 79.4477
Composition method	Presidential with confirmation of Chief Justice of India and Governor of Uttarakhand
Authorised by	Constitution of India
Judge term length	mandatory retirement by age of 62
Number of positions	11 (9 Permanent Judges + 2 Additional Judges)
Website	Uttarakhand High Court
Chief Justice
Currently	Guhanathan Narendar
Since	26 December 2024

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.

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

Landmark judgements

Status of rivers as legal persons

See also: Pollution of the Ganges

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.^[3]

Rohit Sagar v. State of Uttarakhand

Main article: 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.^[4][5]

List of sitting judges of the Uttarakhand High Court

There are currently nine sitting judges including the Chief Justice, with two post of additional judge lying vacant.^[6] Following is the list of the current serving judges of the Uttarakhand High Court, ordered by seniority.

No.	Name	Date of Appointment	Date of Retirement	Type of Vacancy	Parent High Court
Permanent Judges
1	Guhanathan Narendar (Chief Justice)	26 December 2024	9 January 2026	Bar	Karnataka
2	Manoj Kumar Tiwari (Senior Judge)	19 May 2017	18 September 2027		Uttarakhand
3	Ravindra Maithani	3 December 2018	24 June 2027	Bench
4	Alok Kumar Verma	27 May 2019	15 August 2026
5	Rakesh Thapliyal	28 April 2023	14 November 2027	Bar
6	Pankaj Purohit		27 July 2030
7	Ashish Naithani	9 January 2025	3 June 2026	Bench
8	Alok Mahra	14 February 2025	31 January 2034	Bar
9	Subhash Upadhyay	30 May 2025	11 December 2034
Additional Judges
10	Vacant
11

Registrar General

Yogesh Kumar Gupta is the current Registrar General of the Uttarakhand High Court. He assumed office on 6 June 2025.

List of Uttarakhand High Court judges elevated to the Supreme Court of India

Sr. No	Portrait	Name	Date of Elevation	Date of Retirement	Parent High Court
1		Prafulla Chandra Pant	13 August 2014	29 August 2017	Uttarakhand
2		Sudhanshu Dhulia	9 May 2022	9 August 2025

List of Uttarakhand High Court judges elevated as Chief Justice to other high courts

Sr. No	Name	Date of Elevation	Date of Retirement	Parent High Court	Remark
1	Prafulla Chandra Pant	20 September 2013	Elevated to the Supreme Court of India Retired on 29 August 2017	Uttarakhand	Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court
2	Vijay Kumar Bist	30 October 2018	16 September 2019		Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court
3	Sudhanshu Dhulia	10 January 2021	Elevated to the Supreme Court of India Retired on 9 August 2025		Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court

See also

• Chief Justice of Uttarakhand
• List of judges of the Uttarakhand High Court
• High courts of India
• List of sitting judges of the high courts of India
• Supreme Court of India
• List of sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India
• Bar Council of Uttarakhand
• District Courts of India
• Nyaya panchayat
• Uttarakhand Lok Adalat
• Uttarakhand Lokayukta
• Judiciary of India