ESTABLISHMENT

Himachal Pradesh came to be formed as a result of integration of 26 Shimla and

four Punjab hill States into a Centrally Administered Area on April 15,1948. On 1st
April, 1954, the parts of Bilaspur were also merged with Himachal Pradesh having its
Headquarters at Shimla. The Central Government promulgated the Himachal Pradesh
(Courts) Order, 1948 on 15th August, 1948. As per Paragraph 3 of this Order, the
Court of Judicial Commissioner was established for Himachal PradeshIt was vested
with the powers of a High Court under the Judicial Commissioner's Court Act, 1950.
Besides the Court of Judicial Commissioner, two Courts of District and Sessions
Judges and 27 subordinate Courts were also set up. The Court of Judicial
commissioner started functioning on August 15, 1948 and in the same year, two
Courts of District and Sessions Judges were also established. The Punjab High Court
rules and orders with suitable amendments were made applicable to the courts in
H.P. On April 29, 1967, two more District and Sessions Judges Courts, one for Shimla
and other for Kangra were established. The Himachal Pradesh attained the Statehood
in the year, 1971, and established its own High Court with Headquarters at
"Revenswood", Shimla, having one Hon'ble the Chief Justice and two Hon'ble Judges.
The first Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh was Hon'ble Mr. Justice
M. H. Beg and the other two Hon'ble Judges were Hon'ble Mr. Justice D. B. Lal and
Hon'ble Mr. Justice C. R. Thakur. At present, the august office of the Hon’ble the
Chief Justice is adorned by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Surya Kant under whose able
leadership, the H.P. High Court as well as the Courts subordinate to High Court of
Himachal Pradesh are progressing by leaps and bounds. Thus, though small, but this
High Court has a place of pride in judicial milieu of our country. Now the strength of
the Judges of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh is thirteen including the Chief
Justice whereas nine are the sitting Judges including Hon’ble the Chief Justice.

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 DRESS CODE

Wearing jeans, checked shirt or a colorful printed sari to a courtroom can

‘undermine the majesty of law’ and land one in trouble. More so, if the person is a
government official .High court of Himachal Pradesh in shimla recently laid down the
dress code for litigants, especially government officials, after taking exception to a
woman officer appearing before it wearing jeans and checked shirt. The high court
directed the state’s chief secretary to issue necessary directions to all government
officials to dress appropriately while appearing in courts or office. Emphasizing the
importance of correct dressing in its order, the court added: “Judges and magistrates
play a pivotal role in the administration of justice and that is why they wear specific
dress prescribed by the rules framed by the high court. This dress is worn
compulsorily in order to maintain the dignity and decorum of the court and, therefore,
we see no reason why any litigant, more particularly, government officers and officials
should be improperly or inappropriately dressed while appearing before the court.”
This is, however, not the first instance of the ‘dress code’ being imposed by a high
court. The 17 July 2017 high court order subsequently led to the Himachal Pradesh
government prescribing a dress code for government employees attending court
hearings and office. Himachal Pradesh chief secretary, V. C. Pharka, on 3 August,
stipulated in an advisory that all government employees should be attired in
appropriate "formal, modest clothes" in "sober colors" and not look "gaudy". Its
mandate was that casual and party attire should be strictly avoided during
appearance in court and while attending office. The mannerism, conduct and dress of
a government servant should reflect a sense of decorum, decency, professionalism and
seriousness of purpose at the workplace as well as during appearance in Honorable
Courts".
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Judges- Along with discipline and a sense of propriety the need to conform to a dress
code is an integral part of the judicial system. The circular distributed in all the
district courts last month, points out the new Rule 30 regarding the outfits of judge’s
gentlemen and ladies, separately and also for advocates. The magistrate however favor
the bar on shirts with short sleeves and said that a few officers known to him, picked
up such shirts not out of preference but only because of the excessive heat in the
court rooms. The second directive read. The gentlemen subordinate judges and
magistrates should wear a white shirt, black coat and necktie and grey or white
trousers. The gentlemen district and sessions judges and additional district and
sessions judges should wear a white shirt and white band, black coat and grey or
white trousers.” For woman judicial officers the dress is a black full-sleeve jacket,
blouse or shirt; white collar, stiff or soft; with white bands, paired with sari, pants or
“Salwar and Kameez” besides the full-sleeved black coat.

Dress of Women Judge Dress of Men Judge

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Lawers- Dress code is a symbol of confidence, a symbol of discipline and a symbol
of the profession, a proud part of an individual’s personality for a professional.

Dress Code for Advocates in India

Part VI: Chapter IV of Bar Council of India Rules: Rules under Section 49(1) (gg) of the
Advocates Act, 1961.
1. Coat
a) A black buttoned up coat, chapkan, achkan, black sherwani and white bands
with Advocates’ Gowns.
b) A black open breast coat, White shirt, White collar, stiff or soft, and white bands
with Advocates’ Gowns.
In either case wear long trousers (White, Black Striped or gray) or dhoti excluding
jeans.

2. Black tie
Provided further that in courts other than the Supreme Court, High Courts, District
Courts, Sessions Courts or City Civil Courts, a black tie may be worn instead of
bands.

II. Lady Advocates

Lady Advocates may wear either the dress prescribed in Sub-Rule (b) or the following:
(a) Black full sleeve jacket or blouse, White collar, Stiff or soft, with white bands and
Advocates’ gowns. White blouse with or without a collar, with white bands and with a
black open breasted coat.
OR
A. Saree or long skirt

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(b) Sarees or long skirts (white or black or any mellow or subdued color without any
print or design) or flare (white, black or black stripped or gray) or Punjabi dress
churidar kurta or Salwar-Kurta with or without dupatta (white or black) or traditional
dress with black coat and bands.
B. Advocate’s gown
Wearing of Advocates’ gown shall be optional except when appearing in the Supreme
Court or in High Courts.
C. Black coat
Except in Supreme Court and High Courts, during summer wearing black coat is not
mandatory. These amendments have been approved Provided further that in courts
other than the Supreme Court, High Courts, District Courts, Sessions Courts or City Civil
Courts, a black tie may be worn instead of bands.
Lady Advocates may wear either the dress prescribed in Sub-Rule (b) or the following:

(a) Black full sleeve jacket or blouse, White collar, Stiff or soft, with white bands
and Advocates’ gowns. White blouse with or without a collar, with white
bands and with a black open breasted coat.
OR
(b) Sarees or long skirts (white or black or any mellow or subdued color without
any print or design) or flare (white, black or black stripped or gray) or Punjabi
dress churidar kurta or Salwar-Kurta with or without dupatta (white or black)
or traditional dress with black coat and bands.

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 CHIEF JUSTICE

The Chief Justice of the High Court in India is appointed by the President on the
recommendation of the Chief Justice Of the Supreme Court and the Governor of the
concerned state. The appointment of all other judges shall also be made in the same
manner except that in their case the Chief Justice of the High Court shall also be
consulted. The Supreme Court ruled that Chief Justice of India has to concern two
senior most judges of the Supreme Court before making any recommendation to the
President in this regard. This is done two ensure that neither political bias nor
personal favoritism would play any role in the election of the judges.

On October 5, 2018, Justice Surya Kant took oath as the Chief Justice of the
Himachal Pradesh High Court. The notification to this effect was issued on
03/10/2018. Justice Surya Kant was born on February 10, 1962, in a middle class
family in District Hisar in Haryana. An avid debater, he graduated from the
Government Post Graduate College, Hisar in 1981 and earned a Bachelor's Degree in
Law from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak in 1984.

Justice Surya Kant

Justice Surya Kant started his law practice at the district courts in Hisar in 1984
and later shifted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh in 1985.
Justice Surya Kant started his law practice at the district courts in Hisar in 1984 and
later shifted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh in 1985. He held
the office of Advocate General till his elevation as a permanent Judge to the Punjab
and Haryana High Court on January 9, 2004. Later he was also nominated as a
member of the National Legal Services Authority on February 23, 2007 for two
consecutive terms.

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 BENCH OF JUDGES

A bench is a method of organization of judges of a High Court.. A High Court has

several judges. When a particular case is to be heard in the High Court it is illogical
and impractical that all the judges hear it. So, the Registry in the court along with the
Chief Justice, organize the judges into "benches", i.e. groups of 2 or more judges to
hear particular matters. For example, a Constitution Bench, is to mandatorily consists
of at least 3 judges to decide any question relating to the Constitution. Similarly, there
may be a Tax bench, typically of 2 judges (called a Division Bench) or a bench for Writ
Petitions. The judges usually are frequently rotated from one bench to the other,
depending on expertise. Sometimes judges also sit singly.

There 're following three benches in High Courts-

 Single judge Bench comprising of 1 judge
 Division Bench- 2 judges
 And Full Bench of 3 or more judges.

In Supreme Court, there sits a special bench constituted under Article 145 (3 ) of the
Constitution called Constitution bench comprising of 5 judges to hear matters