The Odisha Government on Monday said that there will be no permanent bench of the High Court in conformity with the order of the Supreme Court of India.
“There is no justification for establishing an Orissa High Court bench in any part of Odisha”, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi told the Assembly to the query of BJD MLA from Bolangir Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo.
The State of Odisha is not large enough to merit the demand for the constitution of permanent benches outside Cuttack, the Supreme Court of India had earlier reiterated in an order.
The apex Court pronounced a ruling in this regard while dealing with the problem of lawyers abstaining from work in several districts of Odisha over a long-standing demand for a permanent bench of the Orissa High in December 2022.
The previous BJD Government of Odisha had requested the Centre for the setting up of Orissa High Court Bench in Western and Southern region of Odisha.
The Central Government has requested the State Government of Odisha to work out details of the proposed Bench including its location in consultation with the High Court of Orissa.
It is pertinent to note here that lawyers from southern and western parts of the State have been demanding the establishment of permanent benches of Orissa High court for more than two years to mitigate the inconvenience faced by the litigants and clear off backlog of pending cases.
Last year, the agitating lawyers had vandalized a Courtroom in Sambalpur and misbehaved with the judge in the Courtroom.
The Supreme Court had assailed the act violence on part of lawyers and pulled up Odisha police for its failure to maintain law and order.
Chided by the apex court, the agitating lawyers were later arrested on the basis of footage of close circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
Later the apex court ordered that the establishment of High Court is not justified in the State as it is not a large State.