Revision summary
Allahabad High Court is the High Court of Uttar Pradesh under Articles 214–216. A Lucknow Bench serves specified Awadh districts; the rest go to Prayagraj. Composition is a Chief Justice plus other and additional judges. Jurisdiction is writ (226), appeal from districts, and superintendence (227). Uttarakhand is no longer on this map after 2000.
Model answer
Introduction
The High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the constitutional High Court for the whole of Uttar Pradesh, with a permanent bench at Lucknow for the old Awadh districts. Composition is of a Chief Justice and other judges; jurisdiction is original, appellate, writ, and supervisory.
Body
Composition
- Article 214 read with 216 gives Uttar Pradesh one High Court: a Chief Justice and such other judges as the President may appoint, one of the largest benches in India.
- Judges are appointed under Article 217; additional judges under Article 224 meet arrears that Allahabad’s docket is famous for.
- The Lucknow Bench continues the Awadh judicial stream after the Chief Court of Oudh was merged; specified Awadh districts file there, the rest at Prayagraj.
- Uttarakhand’s High Court at Nainital (2000) removed the hill districts; today’s territorial composition is the present State of Uttar Pradesh only.
Jurisdiction
- Original civil and company-type work is limited; the everyday original power that matters is the writ jurisdiction under Article 226 against the State of Uttar Pradesh and its authorities.
- Appellate jurisdiction hears civil and criminal appeals from district and sessions courts of the seventy-odd districts, from Meerut to Ballia.
- Article 227 gives superintendence over all courts and tribunals in the State, which is how the High Court disciplines the subordinate judiciary.
- It is a court of record (Article 215) and may punish contempt; it does not sit as the Supreme Court, and intra-court appeals still go to a Division Bench and then to New Delhi.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD CJ[Chief Justice judges] --> AHC[Allahabad High Court] LB[Lucknow Bench] --> Awadh[Awadh districts] AHC --> W[Art 226 writ] AHC --> Ap[Appeals] AHC --> S[Art 227 superintendence]
Conclusion
The Allahabad High Court, with its Lucknow Bench, is composed of a Chief Justice and a large body of judges for the whole of Uttar Pradesh. Its jurisdiction is mainly writ, appeal, and superintendence over the State’s district courts—not a second Supreme Court.
Quick related
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Is Lucknow a separate High Court?
No. It is a bench of the Allahabad High Court for listed Awadh districts.
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Does the High Court try every civil suit first?
No. Ordinary suits start in district courts. The High Court is mainly writ and appellate.
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More from this paper
Q1 · UPSC Mains 2024 · UPGS5 · 8 marks
Describe the cultural significance of 'Prayagraj' in ancient India.
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Ancient Prayaga is the Ganga–Yamuna sangam in today’s Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Puranic mahatmya and the Mahabharata make it a moksha tirtha with the Akshayavat. Kaushambi and the Ashokan pillar tie the belt to Magadha and Vatsa power. Xuanzang records Harsha’s gift-assemblies at the confluence. The site is a shared sacred and royal landscape, not only a later city name.
Q2 · UPSC Mains 2024 · UPGS5 · 8 marks
Write about the major republics located in Uttar Pradesh and their political system in the 6th century B.C.
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Sixth-century UP had ganas and kingdoms on the same Ganga–tarai map. Shakyas of Piprahwa–Kapilavastu and Mallas of Kushinagar are the main republics on UP soil. Koliyas and Moriyas were smaller neighbour sanghas. The system was a kshatriya parishad with a ganamukhya, debate, and limited voting. Kashi, Kosala, and Vatsa were monarchies and must be kept apart.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2024 · UPGS5 · 8 marks
What was the policy of the British Government towards the Taluqdars of Awadh after the Revolt of 1857?
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Annexation in 1856 and the summary settlement had pushed Awadh taluqdars into 1857. After the revolt Britain restored them with sanads as estate proprietors. The Oudh Estates Act, 1869, hardened landlord title and succession. Taluqdars became the rural allies of Crown rule around Lucknow. Peasants lost the occupancy tilt of the pre-revolt settlement.
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