HIGH COURT MUMBAI

The Bombay High Court was inaugurated in 1862, after the High Court Act of 1861, in which a letter
patent by the Queen allowed High Courts to be erected in Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. The patent
authorised 15 judges but the Bombay court started with only 7 judges and amazingly, made do with the
same number for the next 60 years.
The High Court was first housed in Admiralty House, in a building on Apollo Street (near today’s Stock
Exchange). Its current English Gothic-style building was built by J.A. Fuller in 1878 and is 562 feet long,
187 wide and 90 feet high, with the central feature 178 feet high. The walls are of rubble and chunam
faced with blue basalt and the structure has rambling halls, enclosed verandahs that double up as
corridors and two private staircases in the Octagon tower on either side of the porch are reserved for
judges. It cost `16,44,528 to build – about `3,000 less than the sanctioned estimate.
Few people know that the current building also house some distinct architectural features: sculptures
in odd nooks and corners of the walls and ceiling on the western corridor display heads of wolves and
foxes with counsel’s bands round their necks. On the first and second floor is a sculpture depicting a
monkey-judge (perhaps from the Aesop’s fable of the judicial monkey and the two litigious cats) with
one eye bandaged and holding unevenly the scales of justice. A story behind this piece of work says that
there was a dispute between the European building contractor and the Parsi sub-contractor about how
they would divide the payment for their work. The Parsi wanted an equal share but was denied it. As
some finishing touches had yet to be done, the disgruntled sub-contractor left his story for all to see in
stone and plaster.
The true symbol of justice, however, is the stone statue of the Goddess of Justice, on the battlement of
the western front of the building. She is represented with both eyes bandaged and holding the Sword of
Justice in one hand and the Scales meticulously even in the other.