High Court of Himachal Pradesh: from a Court of Judicial Commissioner to its own court at Shimla

Background

The e-Committee, Supreme Court of India records that Himachal Pradesh was formed by the integration of 26 Shimla and four Punjab hill States into a Centrally Administered Area in 1948, headed by a Chief Commissioner; parts of Bilaspur were merged into it on 1st April, 1954, with the headquarters at Shimla.
The Central Government promulgated the Himachal Pradesh (Courts) Order, 1948, and under Paragraph 3 of that Order the Court of Judicial Commissioner was established for Himachal Pradesh, vested with the powers of a High Court under the Judicial Commissioner's Court Act, 1950.
Alongside it two Courts of District and Sessions Judges and 27 subordinate Courts were set up, and the Punjab High Court rules and orders were applied to the courts of the territory with suitable amendments.
After the Delhi High Court Act was enacted by the Government of India, its operation was extended to the Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh with effect from May 1, 1967, replacing the Court of Judicial Commissioner with the Himachal Bench of Delhi High Court at Shimla.
Himachal Pradesh attained statehood in 1971 and established its own High Court with headquarters at Shimla, with a Chief Justice and two judges; the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh was Justice M. H. Beg, who is recorded as having become one of the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of India.