Demand for HC bench no more holds importance as e-court facilities progressing: Meghwal

Union Law & Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday said the demand for setting up a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court in the state's western region holds no importance after the introduction of e-court facilities.

The e-courts will provide the same facilities to the people, which will be given by a permanent bench of the high court, Meghwal said on the sidelines of a function here.

Later, the Ministry of Law and Justice clarified that what Meghwal wanted to convey was due to the availability of Virtual Benches under e-Courts Project, the need for separate permanent benches of the Orissa High Court is no longer there.

The clarification note also said that the central government is yet to receive a complete proposal from the Odisha government with the consent of the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court for establishment of such permanent benches as per the recommendations of a Commission. Setting up a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court has been a long-standing demand of the lawyers in the state's Western region. Lawyers have observed strikes several times in the past few years to press for the demand. ''As e-court facilities have progressed a lot, I think there is not much importance in setting up a permanent bench of a high court. This is because the people will get the same facilities through e-court as in the permanent bench of the high court,'' he said. The e-Courts project provides an efficient and time-bound, litigant-centric, affordable, accessible, and accountable justice delivery system. The centralised portals for district courts, subordinate courts and high courts provide information about cases, orders and judgments to citizens. The union minister also said recommendations of the Chief Minister, Chief Justice of the respective state, and subsequently Chief Justice of India are needed for setting up a permanent bench of the high court. Meghwal asserted that Odisha has been ahead of other states as far as the e-courts project is concerned.

The Ministry also mentioned in the note that the state government has to provide infrastructural facilities for establishment of a bench of the high court away from its principal seat as well as the entire expenditure of the high court and its bench. Meanwhile, senior BJD leader and former minister Prasanna Acharya said that the people of the western region have been making the demand for a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court for a long time. ''We hope that the Centre will fulfil the hopes and aspirants of scores of people of western Odisha,'' he said. Western Odisha comprises 10 districts - Bargarh, Bolangir, Boudh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Sambalpur, Subarnapur, Sundargarh and Athmallik sub-division of Angul district. The Supreme Court in December 2022 observed that there was no justification for having a bench of the high court in view of the widespread use of technology in the functioning of courts.