Establishment of a Common High Court for Two or More States
Official heading: “Establishment of a common High Court for two or more States.”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part VI, Article 231, printed page 108
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
- Last human legal review
- Not yet reviewed
AI-assisted source comparisons are noted with the citations below; the check date remains pending until a human confirms the link. The report link opens your email app; you choose whether to send it.
1. In One Sentence
Article 231 empowers Parliament by law to establish a common High Court for two or more States, or for two or more States and a Union territory.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 231 provides flexibility in judicial administration by authorizing common High Courts across multiple federal units, substituting the old 1950 provisions via the Seventh Amendment (1956).
Common Benches in Practice: Parliament has utilized Article 231 to establish common High Courts such as: (1) the Punjab and Haryana High Court (serving Punjab, Haryana, and the UT of Chandigarh); (2) the Bombay High Court (serving Maharashtra, Goa, and UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu); and (3) the Gauhati High Court (which historically served Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh).
Operational Adjustments (Clause 2): For a common High Court, references to the Governor in supervisory matters under Article 227 apply to the Governor of the State where the subordinate court is situated, while references to the State for court expenses apply to the State where the High Court has its principal seat.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A criminal case originates in the State of Haryana, and the appeal is heard by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in Chandigarh.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 231 optimizes judicial resources through shared High Courts.
- Parliamentary statute required to establish common High Courts.
- Can combine two or more States alongside Union territories.
- Allocation rules divide administrative responsibilities among participating Governors and executives.
- Promotes national integration while maintaining regional accessibility.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part VI, Article 231, printed page 108 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.