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THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
395 Articles, organised into 25 Parts and 12 Schedules, make up the Constitution of India

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Part VI

Article 215

High Courts to be courts of record

Every High Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.

Version 1

Article 192, Draft Constitution 1948

Every High Court shall be a court of record and shall consist of a Chief Justice and such other judges as the President may from time to time deem it necessary to appoint: Provided that the judges so appointed together with any additional judges appointed by the President in accordance with the following provisions of this Chapter shall at no time exceed in number such maximum as the President may by order fix in relation to that Court.

Version 2

Article 215, Constitution of India 1950

Every High Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.

Summary

Draft Article 192 (Article 215) was debated on 6 June 1949. It made every High Court a court of record.

The Chairman of the Drafting Committee proposed to wholly replace the Draft Article with the following:

‘High Courts to be courts of Record: Every High Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.’

The amendment also split the Draft Article into two, moving the provision relating to the constitution of the High Courts to Draft Article 192A (Article 216). It was adopted without any debate.

The amended Draft Article was adopted on 6 June 1949.