Kolhapur gets its own Bombay High Court bench, officially notified to begin on August 18, 2025. Chief Justice Alok Aradhe approved the move with Governor’s consent.
Mumbai: On August 1, the Bombay High Court officially announced the setting up of a new bench at Kolhapur. This bench will become operational from August 18, 2025.
The notification was issued through the Maharashtra Government Gazette on August 1, 2025. As per the document, the establishment of the Kolhapur Bench is done by invoking the powers under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
Specifically, sub-section (3) of Section 51 of the Act empowers the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court to designate places where the court may also sit, subject to the approval of the Governor.
The notification states:
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of Section 51 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 (No. 37 of 1956), and all other powers enabling me in this behalf, I Alok Aradhe, Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, with the approval of the Governor of Maharashtra, appoint Kolhapur as a place at which Judges and Division Courts of the High Court may also sit, with effect from 18th August 2025.”
The order was signed by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and officially published by the Director of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Rupendra Dinesh More, in the extraordinary gazette (Extraordinary Gazette No. 41, dated August 1, 2025).
Until now, the Bombay High Court had its principal seat in Mumbai, and benches at Nagpur and Aurangabad in Maharashtra, along with a bench in Panaji, Goa.
The inclusion of Kolhapur marks a new chapter in expanding the court’s regional accessibility and is expected to significantly benefit litigants and advocates from Kolhapur and surrounding regions by reducing the burden of travelling long distances to other benches.
Read Notification:
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