The case clearance rate in Orissa High Court has logged an impressive rise in the last three years with the disposal of 112.66 per cent cases in the first six months in 2023.

The year-wise statistics reflect the rate of increase in disposal in the first half of 2023 in comparison with that of the first halves of 2022 and 2021.

A statement issued by the High Court registry, said, “It can be seen from the first-half yearly statistics of 2021, 2022 and 2023 that irrespective of the institution of cases, the disposal has steadily grown every year and it has been the highest in the first half of 2023.

“While 49,635 cases have been instituted and 62,869 cases have been disposed of in the first half of 2023 at a case clearance rate of 126.66%, 53,155 cases were instituted and 59,850 cases disposed of at a case clearance rate of 112.59% in the first half of 2022 and further, 42,278 cases had been instituted and 39,259 cases disposed of at a case clearance rate of 92.85% in the first half of 2021.”

There was an increase in the rate of disposal in 2021 in comparison to that of 2020 had been 42.58 per cent. The rate of increase in disposal in 2022 in comparison to that of 2021 was 52.44 per cent and the rate of increase in disposal in 2023 in comparison to that of 2022 has been 5.04 per cent.

The number of judgments delivered by the High Court in the first halves of 2021, 2022 and 2023 registered a steady growth every year. While 1,368 judgments have been delivered in the first half of 2023, the number of judgments delivered in 2021 and 2022 were 341 and 982, respectively.

The half-yearly statistics of the high court for the first half of 2023 has been encouraging due to substantial increase in disposal as well as case clearance rate. This has resulted in a steep decline in the pendency of cases in the High Court which has come down to 1,46,582 as on 30th June, 2023 from 1,89,847 cases as on 30 June, 2022.

The steady improvement in performance of the high court can be attributed to various factors such as the increase in number of Judges, the e-initiatives of recent years and more particularly, considerable reduction in loss of working hours, the statement said.