The Lahore High Court () is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab (Pakistan). The High Court's principal seat is in Lahore, but there are benches in three other Pakistani cities:

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, Multan and Bahawalpur. A proposal was sent by

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

s to set up new high court benches in Faisalabad, Sialkot,

D.G.Khan Dera Ghazi Khan (), abbreviated as D.G. Khan, is a city in the southwestern part of Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 19th largest city of Pakistan by population. Lying west of the Indus River, it is the headquarters of Dera Ghazi Khan District and ...

and

Gujranwala Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...

divisions but full court of Lahore High Court turned down this request.

History

Creation

In 1849, the East India Company defeated the Sikh Empire and assumed control of administration within the Punjab. A Board of Administration was constituted and the Punjab was divided into Divisions, Districts and Tehsils. The Divisions were controlled by Commissioners, Districts by Deputy Commissioners and Tehsils by an Assistant and Extra Assistant Commissioners. The Board of Administration consisted of Sir Henry Lawrence, John Lawrence and Charles Grenville Mansel

Chief Court of the Punjab Lahore High Court

In 1858 the Punjab, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the

British crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...

and decisions with regard to administration and justice were now made under the authority of the monarch, Queen Victoria. Hibbert 2000, p. 221 By 1864, a proliferation of court cases necessitated an expansion to the judicial structure in the province. The Punjab Courts Act, (XIX of 1865) introduced seven grades of courts, combining judicial and administrative functions and claiming jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases. The Court of Tehsildar was the lowest court, whilst the Court of the Judicial Commissioner became the highest court in the land. Over time, as appeals to the Chief Court greatly increased, later Acts namely the Punjab Courts Act, (XVII of 1877) and Punjab Courts Act, (XVIII of 1884) repealed earlier Acts and restated the law regarding the courts' constitution, powers and jurisdiction. Additional judges were appointed, and greater finality was granted to the decisions of the lower appellate courts. By 1884, there were four classes of courts subordinate to the Chief Court, namely the Divisional Court, the Court of the District Judge, the Court of the Subordinate Judge, the Court of Munsif.

Lahore High Court

On October 1, 1882, the Chief Court of the Punjab Court was elevated to the status of a Lahore High Court, becoming known as Lahore High Court, King-Emperor George V also appointed a Chief Justice and six puisne justices, and declared the Court's jurisdiction over the Punjab and Delhi provinces. The Government of India Act, 1935 removed the barrier that the Chief Justice must be a Barrister Judge and opened the position to Civilian Judges. An age limit of 60 years was set for High Court Judges. By virtue of the Government of India (High Court Judges) Order, 1937, a maximum number of Judges for the various High Courts in India was fixed. In each case the number so stated was exclusive of the Chief Justice but included all additional judges. For the Lahore High Court the maximum number was fixed at 15.

The West Pakistan High Court

On 30 September 1955, the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan established the province of West Pakistan, and gave the Governor-General the power to establish the West Pakistan High Court, which was established in 1956. Judges from the Chief Court of Sind and the Judicial Commissioners Court at Peshawar became judges at the West Pakistan High Court.

Creation Of Divisional Benches

On 1 January 1981, it was ordered that the Lahore High Court would create benches at Bahawalpur, Multan and

. The order also specified that the Lahore High Court

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s could hold circuit courts anywhere in the province, with judges nominated by the Lahore High Court Chief Justice.

Chief Justices

The first Chief Justice at Lahore was Sir Henry Meredyth Plowden in 1880. The current Chief Justice is Muhammad Ameer Bhatti, incumbent since 6th July 2021 and will be retired on 7th March 2024.

List of chief justices

The following table lists all the chief justices to date.

Current composition

Lahore High Court is headed by a Chief Justice. The bench consist of sixty Justices and additional judges. The retirement age of Chief Justice and Justices is 62 years. The Additional Judges are initially appointed for one year. After that, their services could either be extended or they could be confirmed or they are retired. The current Chief Justice of Lahore High Court is Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti and Court is currently made up of the following Justices (in order of seniority).

PCO 25 March 1981

The PCO of 1981 also afforded the Lahore High Court these three benches. The judges were required to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order. Four judges refused to do so and were relieved of office. Four other judges were not administered the oath, and were also relieved of office.

PCO 26 January 2000

* Sir Rashid Aziz Khan Took oath under PCO * Mian Allah Nawaz Took oath under PCO * Falak Sher Took oath under PCO * Ehsanul Haq Chaudhry Did not Take oath under PCO * Tanvir Ahmad Khan Took oath under PCO * Amir Alam Khan Took oath under PCO * Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry Took oath under PCO *

Fakhar-un-Nisa Khokhar Fakhar-un-Nisa Khokhar ( ur, ) is a Pakistani politician who served as member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Political career She was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party on a seat rese ...

Took oath under PCO * Ghulam Mehmood Qureshi Took oath under PCO * Karamat Nazir Bhandari Took oath under PCO * Javed Buttar Took oath under PCO * Mohammad Asif Jan Took oath under PCO * Mohammad Nasim Chaudhri Took oath under PCO * Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, Took oath under PCO * Tassadaq Hussain Jilani Took oath under PCO * Raja Mohammad Sabir Took oath under PCO *

Sayed Zahid Hussain Mr. Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain () was a judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan and a former Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, currently serving as Law Consultant to the President of Pakistan to hear the appeals against order of Federal ...

Took oath under PCO * Munir Ahmad Mughal Took oath under PCO * Fakir Mohammad Khokar Took oath under PCO * Abdul Razzaq Sheikh Took oath under PCO * Zafar Pasha Chaudhary Took oath under PCO * Mumtaz Ali Mirza Took oath under PCO * Asif Saeed Khan Khosa Took oath under PCO * Ch. Ijaz Ahmad Took oath under PCO * Iftikhar Ahmad Cheema Took oath under PCO * Jawad S Khawaja Took oath under PCO * Khwaja Mohammad Sharif Took oath under PCO * Mian Mohammad Najam-uz-Zaman Took oath under PCO * Mian Saqib Nisar Took oath under PCO * Mian Zafar Yasin Took oath under PCO * Riaz Kayani Took oath under PCO * Najamul Hassan Kazmi Did not Take oath under PCO * Syed Jamshed Ali Took oath under PCO * Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday Took oath under PCO * Malik Mohammad Qayyum Took oath under PCO * Nazir Akhtar Took oath under PCO * Ali Nawaz Chohan Took oath under PCO * Bashir A Mujahid Took oath under PCO * Naeemullah Sherwani Took oath under PCO * Molvi Anwar-ul-Haq Took oath under PCO * Akhtar Shabbir Took oath under PCO * Naseem Sikandar Took oath under PCO * Nazir Siddique Took oath under PCO

PCO 3 November 2007

*Iftikhar Hussain Ch Take oath under PCo as chief justice * Khawja Muhammad Sharif Refused oath under PCo * Sayyed Zahid Hussain Take oath under PCo *Mian M Najamuz Zaman Take oath under PCo *Mian Saqib Nisar Refused oath under PCo *Asif Saeed Khan Khosa Refused oath under PCo *Maulvi Anwarul Haq Take oath under PCo *Nasim Sikandar Take oath under PCo *Abdul Shakoor Paracha Take oath under PCo *Mohammad Khalid Alvi Take oath under PCo *Muhammad Sair Ali Refused oath under PCo *Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Refused oath under PCo *Mian Hamid Farooq Take oath under PCo *M. Bilal Khan Take oath under PCo *Fazale Miran Chauhan Take oath under PCo *Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi Take oath under PCo *M. A. Shahid Siddiqui Refused oath under PCo *Syed Sakhi Hussain Bokhari Take oath under PCo *Sardar Mohammad Aslam Take oath under PCo *Sheikh Hakim Ali Take oath under PCo *Mohammad Muzammal Khan Take oath under PCo *Muhammad Jhangir Arshad Refused oath under PCo *Sh. Azmat Saeed Refused oath under PCo *Syed Hamid Ali Shah Take oath under PCo *Umar AttaBandial Refused oath under PCo *Sh. Javaid Sarfraz Take oath under PCo *Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah Take oath under PCo *Tariq Shamim Take oath under PCo *Syed Asghar Haider Take oath under PCo *Hasnat Ahmad Khan Take oath under PCo *Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman Refused oath under PCo

References

{{coord missing, Lahore High Courts of Pakistan Court system of Pakistan Lahore The Mall, Lahore