Question

Who among the following appoints the Chief Judges of the High Court of a state?
A)President of India
B)Governor of the concerned state
C)Chief Justice of Supreme Court
D)Prime Minister of India

Answer 1

Hint: India has an integrated judicial system. The highest court of India is the Supreme court of India which is followed by the High Courts of the state. Articles 214 to 231 in Part VI of the Constitution deal with the organisation, independence, jurisdiction, powers, procedures of the high courts. The authority who appoints the major persons in India , also appoints the Chief Justice of the High Court of a state.

Complete Answer: The Constitution doesn’t determine the strength of the judges of the High court and leaves it to the President to decide. All High courts have a chief justice and other judges as determined by the President.The judges of the High court are appointed by the President. The Chief Justice of a High Court is appointed by the President after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the concerned state. For appointment of other judges, the chief justice of the concerned high court is also consulted. To be a judge of a High court there is no minimum age requirement mentioned in the constitution. However one has to be a citizen of India and must have held a judicial office or been an advocate in any High court within India for ten years. The Supreme court allows distinguished jurists to be appointed as its judge but High courts don’t allow distinguished jurists to be appointed as it’s judge.
Option (B) governor of the concerned state is incorrect as the governor of a state only has the power to appoint chairman of state public service commission, state election commissioner, advocate general of state etc.
Option (C ) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is incorrect too as CJI only advises the President with regard to appointment of other judges of the Supreme Court.
Option (D) Prime Minister is incorrect too as he only advises the president with regard to the appointment of important officials like attorney general of India, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, chairman and members of the UPSC, election commissioners etc.

Hence, The correct answer is Option A.

Note: One should not confuse the appointment of high court judges with that of district court judges. The judges of the High Court and Supreme Court are appointed by the President. Whereas the judges of district court are appointed by the Governor of the respective state. Also, in case of a common high court for two or more states, the governors of all the states concerned are consulted by the president for appointing the Chief Justice of a High court.