With predecessors fulfilling its purpose since 1866, the Lahore High Court was established on the 21st of March 1919 and 175(2) of the Constitution of 1973 provide insights regarding the jurisdiction of the High Court. Essentially based in the city of Lahore, the High Court has benches in three other Pakistani cities-namely, Rawalpindi, Multan and Bahawalpur.
The History of the High Court at Lahore is Spread Over the Last Hundred and Fifty Years. By 1830, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the famous Sikh ruler of Punjab, consolidated the innumerable small principalities ruled by independent chieftains in the Province. Before the consolidation, there were no Judicial Courts, no written laws and no established authority to maintain or enforce them. The chieftains decided cases according to their own whims and discretions certain rules of customs for settlement of civil and criminal disputes through arbitrators governed the field, but they were by no means uniform or reputable.
Even during Maharaja Ranjit Singh's period, no great judicial reforms were introduced. The Saddar Adulate Court (Chief Court) at Lahore was the sole Court in his realm. There were officers dealing with fiscal and military matters, but none specifically to dispense civil or criminal justice.
The annexation of the Punjab by the British was immediately followed by the creation of a Board of Administration in 1849 consisting of three Members. The Board had powers of a Sudder (Chief) Court of Judicature and a Sudder Board of Revenue.
In 1853 the Board of Administration was replaced with a Chief Commissioner, and two Principal Commissioners separately appointed for Judicial and Administrative work. The Judicial Commissioner was the Chief Judge of appeal and his Court was the final appellate Court.
By the Punjab Courts Act, XIX of 1865, inter alia, seven classes of Courts were brought into being in the Civil Jurisdiction. Starting from the Court of Tehsildar at the bottom to the Court of the Judicial Commissioner at the top.
The Chief Court Act, IV of 1866 constituted the Chief Court of the Punjab as the ultimate Court of Appeal from the Civil and Criminal Courts in the province. The Chief Court was also vested with Extraordinary Original Civil Jurisdiction and Supervisory Jurisdiction over Subordinate Courts.
In 1877, the Punjab Courts Act, (XIX of 1865) and the Chief Court Act (IV of 1866), were repealed by the Punjab Courts Act, (XVII of 1877), which consolidated and re-stated the law inter alia relating to the Chief Court.
Over the years, it was noticed that the appeals to the Chief Court had increased to astronomical proportions and the work was greatly in excess of what the permanent and additional judges of the Court could dispose of. Though additional Judges had been appointed to clear off arrears, it was thought advisable to give some form of greater finality to the decisions of the lower appellate courts to stem the tide of appeals being preferred to the Chief Court. It was also thought advisable to reconstitute the subordinate courts and revise their scope, powers and jurisdiction.