The Madhya Pradesh High Court is a constitutional institution, serving as the apex judicial body for the state of Madhya Pradesh, with its principal seat in Jabalpur. Its origin traces back to the Nagpur High Court, which was established on January 2, 1936, by Letters Patent issued under Section 108 of the Government of India Act, 1915. This establishment solved the problem of providing a full-fledged High Court for the Central Provinces and Berar.
The court's current form was created on November 1, 1956, when the new state of Madhya Pradesh was constituted under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. Section 49(1) of this Act ordained that the existing Nagpur High Court would be deemed the High Court for the new state, with its seat at Jabalpur. It operates under the framework of Chapter V of the Constitution of India, which includes Article 214, mandating a High Court for each state. Its mechanism includes the power to issue writs under Article 226 and exercise superintendence over all subordinate courts under Article 227.
The High Court connects to the concept of judicial federalism and has two permanent benches at Indore and Gwalior, which were established by a Presidential Notification on November 28, 1968, under Section 51(2) of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. A significant recent change occurred on November 1, 2000, when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out under the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000, leading to the establishment of the High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur and restricting the jurisdiction of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to the successor state.