Bombay High Court

Bombay High Court, Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra, is one of the oldest High Courts of India with jurisdiction over the states of Maharashtra and Goa, and, the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The High Court has regional branches at Nagpur and Aurangabad in Maharashtra and Panaji, Goa.

The court is one of the most distinguished high courts in the country. The first Chief Justice, the Attorney General and Solicitor General of Independent India were from this court. Since India's Independence, 22 judges from this court have been elevated to the Supreme Court and 8 of them have been Chief Justice of India.

The court has Original Jurisdiction in addition to its Appellate. The decisions of this court can be appealed only to the Supreme Court of India. The Bombay High Court has the sanctioned strength of 75 judges.

History and Premises
The Bombay High Court was inaugurated on 14 August 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861. Although the name of the city was changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995, the Court as an institution did not follow suit and remained as the Bombay High Court.

The work on the present building of the High Court was commenced in April 1871 and completed in November 1878. It was designed by British engineer Col. J. A. Fuller. The first sitting in this building was on 10 January 1879. Justice M. C. Chagla was the first Indian permanent Chief Justice of Bombay High Court after independence [1948 - 1958] Architecture: Gothic revival in the Early English style. It is 562 feet (171 m) long and 187 feet (57 m) wide. To the west of the central tower are two octagonal towers. The statues of Justice and Mercy are atop this building. The 125th anniversary of the buildhing is slated to be marked by the release of a book, commissioned by the Bar Association, called "The Bombay High Court: The Story of the Building - 1878–2003" by local historians Rahul Mehrotra and Sharada Dwivedi.