The Orissa High Court is the High Court for the Indian state of Odisha.

The then Bengal Presidency was a vast province including present day Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. It was difficult to administratively manage such a vast area, inhabited by people speaking different languages and having different traditions. Administrative exigencies required separation of such areas which originally did not form part of Bengal. So, the new province of Bihar and Odisha was formed on 22 March 1912. However, the said new province of Bihar and Odisha was under the jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court.

History

On 9 February 1916, in exercise of the powers under Section 113 of the Government of India Act, 1915, the King of the United Kingdom issued letters of patent constituting the High Court of Patna. Odisha was placed under the jurisdiction of Patna High Court. Although, on 18 May 1916, Circuit Court of Patna High Court for Odisha held its first sitting at Cuttack.

On 1 April 1936, Odisha was made a separate province but no separate High Court was provided for it. The Government of India agreed to create a new High Court, and for that purpose the Government of India issued the Odisha High Court Order, 1948, under the Section 229(1) of the Government of India Act, 1935, on 30 April 1948. Finally, on 26 July 1948, Odisha High Court was formally inaugurated.

The seat of the court is Cuttack. The court had a sanctioned judge strength of 27 which stood increased to 33 by the notification dated 2nd February, 2022.

In an innovative effort, Museum of Justice has been established at, Cuttack inside the historic compound of Barabati Fort, Cuttack.

Chief Justice and Judges

#JudgeDate of AppointmentDate of RetirementDate of birth
1Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak21 July 202527 August 202728 August 1965
2Justice Krushna Ram Mohapatra17 April 201517 April 202718 April 1965
3Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad12 May 202519 July 202620 July 1964
4Justice Bibhu Prasad Routray08 November 201931 January 203201.02.1970
5Justice Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi10 February 202028 July 203429.07.1972
6Justice Savitri Ratho11 June 202003 July 203004 July 1968
7Justice Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo19 October 202106 September 20337 September 1971
8Justice Radha Krishna Pattanaik19 October 202124 October 203225 October 1970
9Justice Sashikanta Mishra19 October 202116 January 202917 January 1967
10Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra05 November 202125 February 203126 February 1969
11Justice V. Narasingh14 February 202218 January 202919 January 1967
12Justice Biraja Prasanna Satapathy14 February 202219 August 202820 August 1966
13Justice Murahari Sri Raman14 February 202207 June 203208 June 1970
14Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra10 June 202213 November 202914 November 1967
15Justice Gourishankar Satapathy13 August 202224 April 203425 April 1972
16Justice Chittaranjan Dash13 August 202211 November 202612 November 1964
17Justice Sibo Sankar Mishra5 September 20232 May 20303 May 1968
18Justice Ananda Chandra Behera5 September 202329 May 202630 May 1964

Former Chief Justices

#PortraitChief JusticeTenureParent High CourtAppointer (Governor)
1Justice Bira Kishore Ray26 July 194830 October 19513 years, 96 daysPatna High CourtAsaf Ali
2Justice B. Jagannadha Das31 October 19513 March 19531 year, 123 daysOrissa High Court
3Justice Lingaraj Panigrahi4 March 195321 March 19563 years, 17 daysOrissa High CourtSaiyid Fazl Ali
4Justice R. L. Narasimham22 March 195627 December 19648 years, 280 daysOrissa High CourtP. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
5Justice Khaleel Ahmed18 January 19655 April 19672 years, 77 daysPatna High CourtAjudhia Nath Khosla
6Justice Satya Bhusan Barman6 April 196730 April 19692 years, 24 daysOrissa High Court
7Justice G. K. Misra1 May 196930 October 19756 years, 182 daysOrissa High CourtShaukatullah Shah Ansari
8Justice Siba Narain Sankar1 November 197512 October 19771 year, 345 daysDelhi High CourtAkbar Ali Khan
9Justice S. K. Ray13 October 19774 November 19803 years, 22 daysOrissa High CourtBhagwat Dayal Sharma
10Justice Ranganath Mishra16 January 198114 March 19832 years, 57 daysOrissa High CourtC. M. Poonacha
11Justice Dambarudhar Pathak11 August 198328 February 19862 years, 201 daysGauhati High Court
12Justice Hari Lal Agrawal1 May 198631 July 19893 years, 91 daysPatna High CourtBishambhar Nath Pande
13Justice B. L.Hansaria22 February 199013 December 19933 years, 294 daysGauhati High CourtYagya Dutt Sharma
14Justice G. T. Nanavati31 January 199427 September 1994239 daysGujarat High CourtB. Satya Narayan Reddy
15Justice V. A. Mohta28 September 199425 April 1995209 daysBombay High Court
16Jusitce S. N. Phukan2 August 199627 January 19992 years, 178 daysGauhati High CourtGopala Ramanujam
17Justice Biswanath Agrawal18 November 199918 October 2000335 daysPatna High CourtM. M. Rajendran
18Justice N. Y. Hanumanthappa17 February 200124 September 2001219 daysKarnataka High Court
19Justice P. K. Balasubramanyan5 December 200110 March 20031 year, 95 daysKerala High Court
20Justice Sujit Barman Roy9 April 200321 January 20073 years, 287 daysGauhati High Court
21Justice A. K. Ganguly2 March 200718 May 20081 year, 77 daysCalcutta High CourtRameshwar Thakur
22Justice B. S. Chauhan16 July 200810 May 2009298 daysAllahabad High CourtMurlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare
23Justice Bilal Nazki14 November 200917 November 20093 daysHigh Court of Jammu and Kashmir
24Justice V. G. Gopala Gowda25 March 201023 December 20122 years, 273 daysKarnataka High Court
25Justice C. Nagappan27 February 201318 September 2013203 daysMadras High Court
26Justice A. K. Goel12 October 20136 July 2014267 daysPunjab and Haryana High CourtS. C. Jamir
27Justice Amitava Roy6 August 201426 February 2015204 daysGauhati High Court
28Justice D. H. Waghela4 June 201514 February 2016255 daysGujarat High Court
29Justice Vineet Saran26 February 20166 August 20182 years, 161 daysAllahabad High Court
30Justice K. S. Jhaveri12 August 20184 January 20201 year, 145 daysGujarat High CourtGaneshi Lal
31Justice Mohammad Rafiq27 April 20203 January 2021251 daysRajasthan High Court
32Justice S. Muralidhar4 January 20217 August 20232 years, 215 daysDelhi High Court
33Justice Subhasis Talapatra8 August 20233 October 202356 daysTripura High Court
34Justice C. S. Singh7 February 202419 January 2025347 daysPatna High CourtRaghubar Das
35Justice Harish Tandon6 March 2025Incumbent1 year, 70 daysCalcutta High CourtKambhampati Hari Babu

Judges elevated as Chief Justice

This sections contains list of only those judges elevated as chief justices whose parent high court is Orissa. This includes those judges who, at the time of appointment as chief justice, may not be serving in Orissa High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of appointment as chief justice were serving in Orissa High Court but does not have Orissa as their Parent High Court.

Colour Key Female Chief Justice Served as Chief Justice of IndiaSymbol Key ‡ Elevated to Supreme Court of India RES Resigned † Died in office
NameImageAppointed as CJ in HC ofDate of appointmentDate of retirementTenure
As JudgeAs Chief JusticeAs Chief JusticeAs Judge
Bachu Jagannadha DasOrissa26 July 194831 October 19513 March 1953[‡]1 year, 124 days4 years, 226 days
Lingaraj PanigrahiOrissa4 March 195320 March 19563 years, 17 days7 years, 239 days
Ramaswamy Laxman NarasimhamOrissa, transferred to Patna21 March 19562 August 196812 years, 135 days20 years, 8 days
Satya Bhusan BarmanOrissa3 February 19586 April 196730 April 19692 years, 25 days11 years, 87 days
Gati Krushna MisraOrissa30 January 19621 May 196931 October 19756 years, 184 days13 years, 275 days
Sukanta Kishore RayOrissa25 October 196713 October 19775 November 19803 years, 24 days13 years, 12 days
Ranganath MisraOrissa4 July 196916 January 198114 March 1983[‡]2 years, 58 days13 years, 254 days
Jugal Kishore MohantySikkim12 July 197821 January 19864 January 19892 years, 350 days10 years, 177 days
Braja Nath MisraSikkim5 January 198120 January 19908 November 19922 years, 294 days11 years, 309 days
Gopal Ballav PattanaikPatna1 June 198319 May 199510 September 1995[‡]115 days12 years, 102 days
Deba Priya MohapatraAllahabad18 November 198316 February 19968 December 1998[‡]2 years, 296 days15 years, 21 days
Arijit PasayatKerala, transferred to Delhi20 March 198920 September 199918 October 2001[‡]2 years, 29 days12 years, 213 days
Radha Krishna PatraSikkim22 June 19929 July 200323 November 20041 year, 138 days12 years, 155 days
Ananga Kumar PatnaikChhattisgarh, transferred to Madhya Pradesh13 January 199414 March 200516 November 2009[‡]4 years, 248 days15 years, 308 days
Prafulla Kumar MishraPatna17 January 199612 August 200916 September 200936 days13 years, 243 days
Dipak MisraPatna, transferred to Delhi17 January 199623 December 20099 October 2011[‡]1 year, 291 days15 years, 266 days
Laxmi Kanta MohapatraManipur16 January 199910 July 20149 June 20161 year, 336 days17 years, 146 days
Pradip Kumar MohantyJharkhand7 March 200224 March 20179 June 201778 days15 years, 95 days
Indrajit MahantyRajasthan, transferred to Tripura31 March 20066 October 201910 November 20223 years, 36 days16 years, 225 days
Sanjaya Kumar MishraJharkhand7 October 200920 February 202328 December 2023312 days14 years, 83 days
Bidyut Ranjan SarangiJharkhand20 June 20135 July 202419 July 202415 days11 years, 30 days
Sangam Kumar SahooPatna2 July 20147 January 2026Incumbent129 days11 years, 318 days

Judges appointed as Acting Chief Justice

NameAppointed as ACJ in HC ofDate of appointment as JudgePeriod as Acting Chief JusticeDate of retirementTenure as ACJTenure as JudgeRemarksRef..
Ranganath MishraOrissa4 July 19696 November 1980–15 January 198114 March 1983[‡]71 days13 years, 254 daysBecame permanent
Prafulla Kishore MohantiOrissa2 January 197414 March 1983–10 August 198315 July 1984150 days10 years, 196 days--
B. N. MisraOrissa5 January 19811 March 1986–30 April 19868 November 199261 days11 years, 309 days
Radha Charan PattnaikOrissa18 September 19811 August 1989–21 February 199030 May 1992[†]205 days10 years, 76 days
G. B. PattanaikOrissa1 June 198326 April 1995–18 May 199510 September 1995[‡]23 days12 years, 102 daysElevated as CJ of Patna
Debi Priya MohapatraOrissa18 November 198319 May 1995–15 February 19968 December 1998[‡]273 days15 years, 21 daysElevated as CJ of Allahabad
Arijit PasayatOrissa20 March 19892 April 1999–20 September 199918 October 2001[‡]171 days12 years, 213 daysElevated as CJ of Kerala
R. K. PatraOrissa22 June 199221 September 1999–17 November 199923 November 200458 days12 years, 155 days--
19 October 2000–16 February 2001121 days
25 September 2001–4 December 200171 days
L. K. MohapatraAllahabad16 January 199919 September 2013–20 October 20139 June 201632 days17 years, 146 daysTransferred to Manipur
Manipur21 October 2013 – 9 July 2014262 daysBecame permanent
P. K. MohantyOrissa7 March 200224 December 2012–26 February 20139 June 201765 days15 years, 95 days--
19 September 2013–11 October 201323 days
7 July 2014–5 August 201430 days
27 February 2015–3 June 201597 days
15 February 2016–25 February 201611 days
Jharkhand7 October 2016–23 March 2017168 daysBecame permanent
Indrajit MahantyOrissa31 March 20067 August 2018–11 August 201810 November 20225 days16 years, 225 days--
Sanju PandaOrissa1 March 20075 January 2020–26 April 20209 July 2021113 days14 years, 131 days--
S. K. MishraUttarakhand7 October 200924 December 2021–28 June 202228 December 2023187 days14 years, 83 days--
B. R. SarangiOrissa20 June 20134 October 2023–6 February 202419 July 2024126 days11 years, 30 days

Judges elevated to Supreme Court of India

This section includes the list of only those judges whose parent high court was Orissa. This includes those judges who, at the time of elevation to Supreme Court of India, may not be serving in Orissa High Court but this list does not include judges who at the time of elevation were serving in Orissa High Court but does not have Orissa as their Parent High Court.

Colour Key Female Judge Served as Chief Justice of IndiaSymbol Key RES Resigned † Died in office
#Name of the JudgeImageDate of AppointmentDate of RetirementTenureImmediately preceding office
In Parent High CourtIn Supreme CourtIn High Court(s)In Supreme CourtTotal tenure
1Bachu Jagannadha Das26 July 19489 March 195326 July 19584 years, 226 days5 years, 140 days10 years, 1 day2nd CJ of Orissa HC
2Ranganath Misra4 July 196915 March 198324 November 199113 years, 254 days8 years, 255 days22 years, 144 days10th CJ of Orissa HC
3Radha Charan Patnaik18 September 19813 December 199130 May 1992[†]10 years, 76 days180 days10 years, 256 daysJudge of Orissa HC
4Gopal Ballav Pattanaik1 June 198311 September 199518 December 200212 years, 102 days7 years, 99 days19 years, 201 days27th CJ of Patna HC
5Deba Priya Mohapatra18 November 19839 December 19982 August 200215 years, 21 days3 years, 237 days18 years, 258 days35th CJ of Allahabad HC
6Arijit Pasayat20 March 198919 October 200110 May 200912 years, 213 days7 years, 204 days20 years, 52 days20th CJ of Delhi HC
7Ananga Kumar Patnaik13 January 199417 November 20092 June 201415 years, 308 days4 years, 198 days20 years, 141 days19th CJ of Madhya Pradesh HC
8Dipak Misra17 January 199610 October 20112 October 201815 years, 266 days6 years, 358 days22 years, 259 days26th CJ of Delhi HC

External links