Orissa HC bar assn opposes setting up of new benches

The Orissa High Court Bar Association (OHCBA) here has opposed a proposal to open new benches anywhere in the state and decided that its delegation will soon meet Chief Justice S Muralidhar over the matter.

The Union Law Ministry had recently suggested Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik hold consultations with the chief justice of the high court on the proposal to establish any additional bench.

The association took the decision after unanimously passing a resolution on Wednesday, opposing any new benches in southern or western Odisha.

''A delegation of the association will soon meet Chief Justice S Muralidhar in this regard,'' said OHCBA secretary Alok Prasad Nanda.

He claimed that the establishment of any additional bench would only result in the wastage of public money.

''Instead of building new infrastructure for new benches of the high court, simply increasing the strength of the principal seat here would be highly beneficial in disposing of the huge backlog of pending cases,'' he said.

Advocates in other parts of the state, including in Ganjam and Sambalpur, have opposed the OHCBA resolution, stating it was ''uncalled for''.

During the discussion before the passage of the resolution, some bar members alleged that more than the judicial requirement, the demand for additional benches of the high court in Odisha has been a political gimmick for more than three decades.

They said that for narrow political gains, major parties have stoked the issue.

''A judicial commission report on the issue has not been made public yet by the state government even after eight years of its submission. Retired judge of the High Court Justice C R Pal had submitted his report and recommendations in 2014,'' a member of the association said, adding although the high court has ruled it is not mandatory for the government to make findings of every judicial commission public.

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