Introduction

The High Court of Judicature at Patna is the constitutional High Court for the State of Bihar and is one of the oldest High Courts in India. The Court formally began functioning on March 1, 1916, following the establishment of the High Court of Judicature for Bihar and Orissa. Over the years, the Court has played an important role in adjudicating constitutional, civil, criminal, service, taxation and other matters arising from Bihar.

Chief Justice of Patna High Court

As of September 30, 2026, Justice V. Kameswar Rao is the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court. He assumed office as Chief Justice on September 13, 2026. According to the official profile of the High Court, Justice V. Kameswar Rao was born on August 7, 1965. He completed his B.A. (Hons.) in Geography and LL.B. from Delhi University and enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi in March 1991. Before his elevation to the Bench, he practised before the Supreme Court of India, Delhi High Court and the Principal Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal, New Delhi.

Present Strength of Judges

The sanctioned strength of the Patna High Court is 53 judges, including the Chief Justice. Following the appointment of seven judges in June 2026, the working strength increased to 44 judges. Thus, nine posts remain vacant against the sanctioned strength. The official Judges List presently records 44 sitting judges.

The seven judges appointed in June 2026 were Justice Ranjan Kumar Jha, Justice Kumar Manish, Justice Raj Kumar, Justice Rana Vikram Singh, Justice Vikash Kumar, Justice Girijish Kumar and Justice Alok Kumar. Of these, Ranjan Kumar Jha, Kumar Manish and Raj Kumar were appointed as permanent judges, while Rana Vikram Singh, Vikash Kumar, Girijish Kumar and Alok Kumar were appointed as additional judges.

Sitting Judges of Patna High Court

The current official Judges List includes Chief Justice V. Kameswar Rao and the following judges:

Justice Sudhir Singh; Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad; Justice Mohit Kumar Shah; Justice Bibek Chaudhuri; Justice Nani Tagia; Justice Sanjay Kumar Singh; Justice Anil Kumar Sinha; Justice Prabhat Kumar Singh; Justice Partha Sarthy; Justice A. Abhishek Reddy; Justice Sandeep Kumar; Justice Purnendu Singh; Justice Satyavrat Verma; Justice Rajesh Kumar Verma; Justice G. Anupama Chakravarthy; Justice Rajiv Roy; Justice Harish Kumar; Justice Shailendra Singh; Justice Arun Kumar Jha; Justice Jitendra Kumar; Justice Alok Kumar Pandey; Justice Sunil Dutta Mishra; Justice Chandra Shekhar Jha; Justice Khatim Reza; Justice Dr. Anshuman; Justice Rudra Prakash Mishra; Justice Ramesh Chand Malviya; Justice Shashi Bhushan Prasad Singh; Justice Ashok Kumar Pandey; Justice Alok Kumar Sinha; Justice Sourendra Pandey; Justice Soni Shrivastava; Justice Ajit Kumar; Justice Ritesh Kumar; Justice Praveen Kumar; Justice Ansul; Justice Ranjan Kumar Jha; Justice Kumar Manish; Justice Raj Kumar; Justice Rana Vikram Singh; Justice Vikash Kumar; Justice Girijish Kumar; and Justice Alok Kumar.

Bench System of the Patna High Court

The Patna High Court functions through both Division Benches and Single-Judge Benches. Division Benches generally consist of two judges, while a Single Judge hears matters assigned to an individual judge under the Court's roster.

The Court's constitution of benches issued with effect from June 15, 2026 provided for several Division Benches dealing with specified categories of matters. The roster also provides for matters involving constitutional validity, Public Interest Litigations, Letters Patent Appeals, judicial service matters, civil reviews, habeas corpus matters and other specially assigned cases to be placed before appropriate benches.

However, the daily sitting bench is determined from the applicable roster and the day's cause list, and individual judges may also be assigned matters separately. Therefore, the cause list for the particular date is the appropriate source for identifying which judges are actually sitting in each court on that day.

Current Sitting Benches

The Patna High Court's cause list for September 30, 2026 records, among others, the Chief Justice's Court and several Division and Single-Judge Courts. The current cause-list data shows Court No. 1 functioning with the Chief Justice and Justice Partha Sarthy. Other Division Benches listed for the day include Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad with Justice Kumar Manish, Justice Mohit Kumar Shah with Justice Sourendra Pandey, Justice Bibek Chaudhuri with Justice Rana Vikram Singh, Justice Nani Tagia with Justice Alok Kumar Sinha, and Justice Anil Kumar Sinha with Justice Vikash Kumar.

The cause list also records several Single-Judge Courts, including courts presided over by Justice Prabhat Kumar Singh, Justice Purnendu Singh, Justice Satyavrat Verma, Justice G. Anupama Chakravarthy, Justice Rajiv Roy, Justice Shailendra Singh, Justice Dr. Anshuman, Justice Ramesh Chand Malviya, Justice Ashok Kumar Pandey, Justice Soni Shrivastava, Justice Kumar Manish and Justice Raj Kumar, among others.

It is important to distinguish the strength of the Court from its daily sitting arrangement. The working strength refers to the number of judges presently serving, whereas the sitting benches refer to the particular judicial combinations or individual courts assigned matters on a specific working day.

With a sanctioned strength of 53 and a current working strength of 44, the Patna High Court continues to function through a combination of Division Benches and Single-Judge Benches to deal with the wide range of civil, criminal, constitutional, service and other litigation falling within its jurisdiction. The official Judges List and daily cause list remain the most reliable sources for tracking subsequent changes in the Court's composition and bench assignments.