Orissa High Court has recorded Case Clearance Rate (CCR) at 130.94% by disposing 1,36,599 cases in 2022

Cuttack: 11/2/23:The Orissa High Court has recorded Case Clearance Rate (CCR) at 130.94% by disposing 1,36,599 cases in 2022 compared to 1,05,182 cases in 2021.

The disposal of cases by the High Court has increased by over 29.86% in 2022 compared to 2021. Similarly, disposal of cases by District Judiciary increased by over 116.02% compared to 2021. The District Courts disposed of 5,15,392 cases at a Case Clearance Rate (CCR) of 93.20% compared to 2,38,588 cases in 2021, the Annual Report 2022 of the Orissa High Court stated.

The Orissa High Court has also recorded an increase in delivery of judgments in 2022. 2,118 judgments were delivered by the High Court in 2022 compared to 810 in 2021. 1,61,263 judgments were delivered by the District Courts in 2022 compared to 72,806 in 2021.

In the beginning of 2022, the working strength of the High Court was 18. It rose to an all time high i.e. 24 in the month of August and remained 22 at the end of the year. While 1 Judge was transferred and 2 Judges retired, 7 Judges were sworn in during the year. The sanctioned strength also increased during the year from 27 to 33.

As many as 34 paperless courts were inaugurated in the districts. On 17th September, 2022 the Chief Justice of India, Justice U.U. Lalit inaugurated 34 Paperless Courts in the District Courts of Odisha. Odisha is perhaps the first State in the Country where there are Paperless Courts in all the districts. The aim is to increase the number progressively so that every Court in Odisha is enabled to became paperless by the end of 2023, the High Court said.

Key Highlights of Annual Report, 2022

Establishment of 10 District Court Digitization Hubs: In 2021, 4 District Court Digitization Centres (DCDCs) had been established at Cuttack, Sambalpur, Ganjam and Balasore. Following on the experience of the 4 DCDCs it was decided to expand the activities of digitization of District Court records. In 2022, the existing DCDCs were converted into District Court Digitization Hubs (DCDHs) and instead of opening of separate DCDC in each of the remaining district, DCDHs were opened in 10 locations namely, Angul, Bhadrak, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Sonepur which cover the respective neighboring districts. The DCDHs were inaugurated on 12th December, 2022 by the Chief Justice of India, Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.

Implementation of case load rationalization across the District Courts: Due to uneven distribution of cases across the state, some courts were overburdened with work, while some others had less work. This resulted in under-utilization of the available judicial resources. Pursuant to the discussion in the District Judges’ Conference, 2022, the District Judges were instructed to adopt rationalization of cases among the different courts so as to ensure their even distribution. A total number of 3,24,900 cases were transferred to different trial courts. This resulted in striking a balance in regard to pendency of cases among all courts. Due to heavy burden on the existing cognizance-taking courts, 25 new cognizance-taking courts were inaugurated across the State on 21st November, 2022.

Scheme for Best Performance Districts introduced : The High Court formulated a scheme to assess the performance of the District Courts and discern the best performing districts across the state classified into three categories i.e. Judgeships with more than 30 officers (Zone-A), Judgeships between 20 to 30 officers (Zone-B) and Judgeships with less than 20 officers (Zone-C). The evaluation was done on the basis of the information received from the District Judges, the reports of the concerned Administrative Judges and the Registry of the High Court with regard to the performance of the District Courts on various aspects like their judicial work, administrative capabilities and infrastructural management. On completion of the exercise Bolangir, Nayagarh and Deogarh were found to be the Best Performing Districts in Zone ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ respectively.

Launch of Judicial History Project and the Centre for Judicial Archives: The old case records of the High Court of Orissa include judicial records of three other High Courts: at Calcutta, Patna and Madras and the erstwhile High Courts of the princely states. There are records which date back to 19th century. Such records provide valuable insights into the functioning of the judiciary during those times and contain the treasure-trove of historical information.

Judicial History of Odisha will be documented by making the records available to the researchers and scholars. However, the records require preservation by the latest scientific techniques before research. Simultaneously, revamping of the museum of the High Court in Cuttack was mooted for showcasing the heritage and history of the judiciary in Odisha.

Felicitation of High Court employees completing 25 years: Welfare of the employees and acknowledgement of their contribution to the institution is important. On 1st February, 2022, the High Court of Orissa initiated the move of felicitating its employees who have completed service of 25 years and above. 169 employees of the High Court having completed service of 25 years and above in various cadres were felicitated by the Chief Justice and the Judges in a function held in Odisha Judicial Academy. Thereafter, 10 more employees were felicitated in 2022 for completion of 25 years of service. Besides, 30 employees have been felicitated during the year on their retirement.