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High Court

Mumbai (Bombay)


A hive of daily activity, packed with judges, barristers and other cogs in the Indian justice system, the newly Unesco-recognised High Court is an elegant 1848 neo-Gothic building. The design was inspired by a German castle and was obviously intended to dispel any doubts about the authority of the justice dispensed inside.

Inside it’s quite a spectacle, with court officials kitted out in starched white tunics offset with red cummerbunds and scarlet berets, while robed barristers strut about with their chests puffed out. You are free to roam the grounds, climb the spiral staircases and attend trials, though there is a strict mobile phone ban inside courtrooms – your phone must be switched off. A small history museum has been added but is of little interest for those without a judicial fetish.


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