The Bombay High Court
150 years

The Hon’ble the Chief Justice and other Puisne Judges of the Bombay High Court are pleased to invite all members of the Bar Association to attend a special function to usher in the sesquicentennial year of the Bombay High Court. The Hon’ble the Chief Justice and the Hon’ble Dr Justice Chandrachud visited the Bar Association and the Bar Library to personally invite our members on 11 August 2011, and a day later, the Hon’ble the Chief Justice and other judges met with members of the Advocates’ Association of Western India.

The function will be held in Court Room No.46 on 14 August 2011 from 10:00 am. As seating in that court is limited, special arrangements have been made for members in Court Room No. 43 and Court Room No. 49 where there will be a live telecast of the entire proceedings.

The event will be followed by lunch. Service arrangements have been made in the Bar Association and also in the hall and judges’ lounge on the fourth floor of the annexe.

The Bombay High Court was formally inaugurated on 14 August 1862 — a fortuitous date, for 85 years later, at 11:35 pm on 14 August 1947, the judges of the High Court, members of the Bombay Bar Association, the Advocates’ Association of Western India and the Bombay Incorporated Law Society, officers of the court, the entire court staff and several members of the public met in the Central Court. The last British Chief Justice, Sir Leonard Stone and his companion justices, all formally attired as they would be in a regular sitting of the court, arrived at 11:45 pm. The Chief Justice addressed the gathering and, at a minute to the midnight hour, requested all to stand in silence for a minute. At the stroke of midnight, the Indian tricolour was hoisted on a special flagpost put up in court, and another on the flagstaff of the building, where it has been since.