Kerala Judiciary
The modernization in the judicial system in Kerala began during the time of Colonel Munro who was the British Resident in Travancore. Zilla courts (1811) and Huzur court (1814) were established in Travancore subsequently. The Huzur court is the highest judicial court and also was the final court of appeal in Travancore. The Sardar court replaced this Huzur Court in 1861. Sardar court practically possessed all the powers now exercised by the High Courts. This court existed from 1861 to 1881. The High Court of Travancore was established in 1887. The first chief justice of Travancore High Court is Ramachandra Iyer. He was only 35 years when he became the Chief Justice. Last Chief Justice of Travancore High Court is Puthupally Krishna Pillai.
Law Courts were established in Cochin for the first time was in 1812 AD during the Diwanship of Col. Munro. Col. Munro established two sub courts one at Thrissur and the other at Tripunithura. Zilla courts and Huzur court were established subsequently. The system of Huzur court continued till 1835. After 1835, the Huzur court was reconstituted as the Raja's Court of Appeal and the subcourts were reconstituted as the Zilla court. In 1900, the Raja's court of appeal was reconstituted as the Chief Court of Cochin. Chief Court of Cochin became the High Court during the Diwanship of Shanmukham Chettiyar. The Thiru-Cochin State came into existence on 1 July 1949. Following this, the High Court of Travancore - Cochin was established with its headquarters at Ernakulam on 7 July 1949.
Kerala High Court was formed in November 1, 1956, the day on which Kerala State was formed. Its headquarters is at Ernakulam. Only five judges (including Chief Justice) were functioning at that time. Now High Court consists of 27 permanent judges including the Chief Justice and 12 Additional Judges. The first Chief Justice of Kerala High Court is Justice K.T.Koshi. Apart from a high court and 14 district courts, Kerala has 80 additional district and sessions courts, 54 sub-courts, 82 Munsif courts and 16 Munsif Magistrate courts.
