Chief Justice’s letters dated 13^th April and 10^th October 2021 to the District Judges

13th April, 2021

Dear District Judges,

Greetings to you on Maha Sankaranti.

It is three months since I took over as Chief Justice of the High Court of Orissa, I thought it as good time as any to write to you about how we should approach the remaining nine months of this year.

At the outset, I must acknowledge that the last twelve months have been challenging for the judiciary as a whole on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has compelled us to adapt to a changed working environment with a combination of virtual and physical hearings. It would be fair to say that the district judiciary in Odisha has responded positively to this challenge with the cooperation of the judicial officers and the staff of the courts. I am writing to you at a time when there is a fresh surge of COVID-19, with uncertainty as to how long this surge is going to last. However, we cannot afford to remain complacent and have to meet the challenge with renewed vigour and fresh ideas.

This letter is a prelude to the interaction I propose to have with each of you by virtual mode on 15th and 16th of this month. You will recall that we had a similar interaction three months ago on 11th and 12th January, 2021. It is possible that we may not have sufficient time to discuss each of the issues and, therefore, I thought it would be useful for both of us for the purpose of follow up, if I wrote a letter highlighting the areas that need your immediate attention.

Old Cases

I would like to begin with the issue of the pendency of old cases. You are aware that in each of the district judgeships in Odisha there is a sizable number of cases that are more than 10 years old, both in the civil and criminal jurisdiction. For the purposes of understanding the need for a different approach to be adopted by individual Judges in dealing with such cases, we have sub-categorized the old cases as those pending for 10 to 15 years; 15 to 20 years; 20 to 25 years; 2
5 to 40 years and above 40 years.

The information available with the High Court pertaining to the old cases in your district as of 9th April, 2021 is enclosed with this letter (‘A’). I must record my satisfaction at the efforts made by you to bring down the pendency of both the 40-year-old + cases and 25- to 40-year-old cases since we met last in January, 2021. It goes to show that with determination and constant monitoring it is possible to tackle this issue.

What I have understood from each of you during my last interaction on this particular topic is that the broad reasons for the pendency of these old cases are:
there is stay granted for further proceedings by the High Court.
the Lower Court Record (LCR)/Trial Court Record (TCR) is pending in the High Court/Supreme Court.
Some civil cases are execution cases which cannot be closed on account of non-satisfaction of the decree.
Some are pending for drawing up the final decree in a suit for partition.
In criminal cases, the warrants for appearance of the accused/ witnesses /guarantors remain unexecuted.

There could be some other reasons as well.

As far as the question of stay granted by the High Court is concerned, after the judgment of the Supreme Court in Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency v. Central Bureau of Investigation, a copy of which is available with each of you, the question of automatic extension of such stay after a lapse of six months does not arise. In a subsequent order dated 15th October 2020 in an application in the same case, the Supreme Court clarified: “Whatever stay has been granted by any court including the High Court automatically expires within a period of six months, and unless extension is granted for good reason, as per our judgment, within the next six months, the trial Court is, on the expiry of the first period of six months, to set a date for the trial and go ahead with the same.”

Therefore, these old cases have to now proceed as if the stay earlier granted has not continued beyond six months on the strength of the above judgment of the Supreme Court. I would urge you to continue to remind all the judges in your judgeship of the changed legal position and ensure that these types of cases are taken on priority basis and very short adjournments, not exceeding one/two weeks at a time may be granted and again not beyond 2/3 months. I am sure that this procedure is already being adopted as is evident from the pendency of these old cases having come down considerably in the last three months. However, I am highlighting this only to ensure that our concerted efforts in this direction continue unabated.

On the issue of return of LCRs, you must have noticed that the High Court registry is digitizing the LCRs/TCRs and sending back the original to the concerned judgeships. The statistics in this regard as far as your particular judgeship is concerned, as of 9th April, 2021 is enclosed herewith (‘B´). I would urge you to cross-verify the details and revert to the High Court not later than 1st May, 2021 of the number of LCRs, not limited to the 25 years + and 40 years cases, generally all cases, which are still in the High Court and require to be sent back. This will help the High Court registry to trace out the said LCRs and return them after digitization.

I would suggest that old execution cases can be brought to a close with a judicial order giving reasons why no useful purpose will be served in keeping it pending and giving liberty to parties to revive it if the circumstances so warrant. However, this is only a suggestion and not a direction and it is for the judicial officer concerned to do what he or she considers appropriate in the circumstances.

So far as old criminal cases, for refreshing your memory, I may quote Rules 326 and 327 of the GRCO (Criminal) Vol.-I, which read as under:

“326. Dormant File – Records of the following categories of cases shall be transferred to the “Dormant File” and from the date of such transfer they shall not be shown in any periodical returns.

All cases where action has been taken under Sections 82 and 83 Criminal Procedure Code and evidence of witnesses, if any, for the prosecution has been recorded under Section 299 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

In cases where during a period of one year from the first date of issue of process, repeated attempts to serve summons and warrants have failed on account of the fact that the whereabouts of the accused is not known and the prosecution is unable to furnish any further particulars about the whereabouts of the accused.

In police cases where action under Sections 82 and 83, Criminal Procedure Code has been taken, but the proclamation and attachment have not been effected by the police during a period of three months from the date of issue of such proclamation and attachment.
Where the address of the accused is not furnished by the prosecution within a period of three months from the date of institution of the case.

327 After the appearance or the production of the accused, the concerned Court of Session or Magistrate would call for the record from the Dormant file and shall proceed with the case according to law in its original number and thereafter show the case in the periodical returns.”

The above rules make it clear as to what kind of cases should be treated as “Dormant cases”, which shall then be transferred to the ‘Dormant file’. What is important is that after such transfer to the ‘dormant file’, they shall not be shown in any periodical returns. Under Rule 327, the circumstances under which such ‘dormant file’ can be revived is well indicated.

Rules 328 and 329 of the GRCO (Criminal) are also relevant as regards maintaining register of such ‘dormant files’ is concerned.

I would urge yourself and all judges of your judgeship to strictly follow the above rules for the purpose of transferring cases to the ‘dormant file’ category. Once it is transferred to the ‘dormant file’ it should not form part of the pendency figures. This may be strictly adhered to.

In the next three months i.e., before 1st August, 2021 we should ensure that there is substantial disposal of the 25 plus years and 40-year old cases so that it is brought down by half. I would like to urge you to ask each of the judges of your judgeship to personally scrutinize the year old cases to find out what are the actual reasons for the delay in their disposal and take steps accordingly, and to have a ready reckoner of the statistics of such pending old cases on their desks, so that on daily basis the judges will remind themselves that these should be given priority.

I would urge you to use your resources to collect statistics on the disposal of old cases i.e., 10 years + cases, judge-wise, on a fortnightly basis and send them to the Chief Justice’s Secretariat by email with a copy marked to the concerned Administrative Judge and the Registrar (Administration).

May I remind you that after the facilities launched on 5th April 2021, all the communications from the High Court to the district judiciary and vice versa are expected to be only in electronic mode. I request you to adhere to this requirement in future. Even inter se communications between you and the judges in your judgeship should be only in the electronic mode, except where the network/connectivity is poor.

Digitization and Computerization

You are aware that it is proposed to commence the exercise of digitization of Court records in four district judgeships, i.e., in the Judgeship of Cuttack, Balasore, Sambalpur and Ganjam as pilot projects. While we propose to launch this on 1st May, 2021, I would urge that in all district judgeships a review be undertaken to segregate the old records. I am told that the required steps of separating the parts that required to be retained and those that are not, are yet to be taken in some of the district judgeships. This would require a regular visit to the record room to ensure regular upkeep of the records and the proper condition in which they are to be preserved.

Therefore, I would request not only you as a District Judge to undertake this exercise, but each of the judges of your judgeship correspondingly to undertake their exercise and report back to you as to what needs to be done to ensure that the old records are properly categorized, preserved in as good a condition as possible, so that wherever the work of digitization of old records is taken up, it can proceed smoothly.

For increased use of computer resources, the constant updating of the data concerning cases on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) portal, ensuring of availability of digital copies of the orders passed by each court in the judgeships, all steps that required to be constantly monitored and ensured.
If there is more infrastructure needed for segregation of fragile old records, please do not hesitate to let the High Court know, so that appropriate steps can be taken. I am aware that in many of the judgeships, record rooms are already full and there is inadequate space for keeping further records to be preserved. Wherever, this is the position, please let the High Court know immediately along with the suggestions as to how the records can be preserved.

Infrastructure issues, building projects etc.

I now move to the topic of resources at the disposal of the district judges. Each of you is at present overseeing the completion of various court buildings, residential quarters for judicial officers and staff. You have been sending monthly reports in this regard. I would request you continue sending these monthly reports of the progress and what more is required to be done in relation to all such infrastructural projects by e-mail to the Chief Justice’s Secretariat and the concerned Administrative Judge with a copy to the Registrar (Administration) who will in turn place it before the concerned Committee.

Vacancies of various posts in the district judgeships

As you know, in terms of the recent decision of the Full Court of the High Court, pending approval and publication of a new set of rules with regard to filling up various posts of district judiciary, the district judges have been asked to engage the Class-IV staff on daily wage basis. An updated status report of vacancy position and steps taken by the District Judges be sent by 5th of every month to the Chief Justice’s Secretariat, with a copy to the concerned Administrative Judge and the Registrar (Administration).

Visits to branches in the court premises

I have found that regular visit to the various branches, working areas and premises in the court building helps in ensuring their proper upkeep, sanitation, cleanliness and general conditions conducive to a proper working environment. I would urge you and each judge in charge of a judicial complex, to undertake a similar exercise. This would include ensuring basic hygiene, sanitation, adequate light and air; ensuring that all staff have comfortable table and chairs in good working conditions; that there are proper sitting arrangements for visitors to the court premises and witnesses; good drinking water facilities and clean toilets; that the premises are otherwise accessible and disabled friendly; and there are proper signage(s). The installation of fire safety equipments and an action plan to handle any disaster is also imperative. If you consider it appropriate, you may also form Committee/Sub-committee to examine these issues and advice you regularly on the corrective steps that require to be taken.

Interaction with colleagues, staff and the Bar

Kindly ensure that the service records of the officers and staff of the judgeships are regular updated and there is no backlog in that regard. This is important for keeping their morale high.

I also urge you to have a regular interaction, if not physically poss
ible, definitely in virtual mode, with all of your judicial officers in the judgeship at least twice in a month, where they can freely express their views on the issues that I have highlighted in the letter. May I suggest that ‘virtual roundtables’ of judicial officers be encouraged once a month, for e.g., between 3 and 5 pm on a second Saturday of the month, where judicial officers can discuss topics concerning tackling of old cases, issues concerning the staff, the bar and so on. Best practices can be exchanged in such interactions and doubts cleared.

Also please encourage every judicial officer in your judgeship to have interaction with the staff working with them, preferably over a cup of tea, at least once in a month, so that a congenial working environment is created and that channels of communication between the staff and the officers are kept open. This also helps to ease any tension/misunderstanding that can inevitably develop during the course of working. Such interactions facilitate the development of team spirit, which needs to be inculcated in every member of the staff including the judge himself or herself.

There is also a need to inculcate the discipline among the staff. All the judicial officers and staff officers of the court should be at their seats at least half an hour prior to the reporting time of other staff. Discipline can be inculcated only by leading by personal example. The judicial officer himself or herself should arrive in the court premises at least half an hour prior to the commencement of the official sitting time and stay back at least for an hour after conclusion of the official sitting hour to complete all the administrative work.

I would urge all the judges in your judgeship to continue sitting on the dais the entire court working hour, which would definitely send a clear message to the Bar and the litigants that the court takes its functioning seriously. Even dictation can be done sitting on the dais if it is during the court working hours.

Regular interaction with the office bearers of the local Bar Association at least once in a month helps to keep those channels of communications open. All these efforts are to ensure that the atmosphere in the court is welcoming, as far as the litigants are concerned, rather than intimidating and to give out a clear message that the court is for the public and will continue to serve as a public institution upholding constitutional values of equality, liberty and dignity and that no discrimination would be practised.

I may end by drawing your attention to an excellent piece titled ‘How to be a Good Judge – Advice to New Judges’ by Mr. Justice R.V. Raveendran, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, which I am sure you and many of the judicial officers have already read. Nevertheless, I find it useful to go back to it every now for guidance. I request you to circulate a copy thereof, by e-mail, to all judicial officers in your judgeship.

I look forward to the interaction with you on 15th /16th April, 2021 by virtual mode. I am requesting the concerned Administrative Judge to also remain present at the meeting.

S.Muralidhar
Chief Justice

10^th October, 2021

Dear District Judges,


Greetings to you during the ongoing puja vacation,

I had last written to you on 13th April 2021 on various issues concerning working of the district judiciary. That was the time when there was a fresh surge of COVID-19 cases. Fortunately, in August this year the regular functioning of the courts could resume. We have been able to persuade the Government of Odisha, during this period, to ensure that all the judicial officers, the staff and their family members in the district and subordinate courts receive two doses of vaccination. I must share with you that the results in this regard have been encouraging. The list indicating the details is enclosed as Enclosure-A. If any of the staff in the district courts have not yet received the second dose of the vaccination, and if you are unable to arrange for it at your level, kindly let the Registrar (Inspection) of this Court know immediately so that necessary steps can be taken to facilitate it.

After the virtual interaction we had on 15th and 16th April 2021, I have personally visited 14 districts and interacted with the judicial officers. I have also held separate interactions, in the presence of the concerned Administrative Judge of the High Court, with the judicial officers of the remaining districts. At a personal level I have found the interaction very useful. It is good to know that many of the judicial officers are performing to the best of their potential. It is my endeavour to personally visit every district in Odisha before end of this year.

Infrastructure

You will be happy to know that in the last nine months a number of courts (Enclosure-B) and a number of new court buildings have been inaugurated (Enclosure-C). It is a matter of pride for all of us that on 18th September 2021, Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vineet Saran, Judge, Supreme Court of India and former Chief Justice of the High Court of Orissa inaugurated the modern court complex at Odagaon which is one of its kind. Not only the court buildings but the residential quarters of the judicial officers and the staff are located within the same complex. The new district court buildings at Bhawanipatna, Nawarangpur, Jeypore, Malkangiri and Sonepur are the other recently inaugurated judicial landmarks of Odisha, which we could be reasonably proud of. There are also new judicial complexes inaugurated at the block level. I need hardly say that all of these courts will realise their full potential when they function on a continuous basis with the cooperation of the Bar.

The Building Committee in the High Court for the district judiciary has recently cleared a number of proposals/estimates for improvement of the infrastructure in the district judiciary. The list of such projects in your district is at Enclosure-D. The High Court will, with your co-operation, monitor the progress of these projects to ensure that they are completed within time.
It is a matter of satisfaction that consequent upon our interaction, there is a greater involvement of the judicial officers in the districts in the maintenance of the court complex. As you are aware, High Court has recently decided to permit the District Judges to engage agencies on outsourcing basis for this purpose. We are hopeful that the financial support of the Government for this proposal will be received soon. It is important to ensure that the court buildings are maintained well and continue to serve for the purpose for which they have been erected at considerable cost.

Recruitment of staff

As regards Group ‘C’ staff, on the basis of the information available with the High Court, the present status of the advertisement issued and the applications received in the District Courts is enclosed in a tabular form as Enclosure- E. I request you to kindly verify if the information we have for your district is correct and let us know at the earliest if it is not. As far as recruitment of Group-D staff in the district judiciary is concerned, the completion of the recruitment process as per the 2021 Rules will take some time. Till the process is completed, you may continue to engage such staff on daily wage basis for the smooth functioning of your judgeship.

Digitisation of records

I am happy to say that there has been significant progress in the work of digitisation of old records at the four districts viz., Balasore, Berhampur, Cuttack and Sambalpur, despite the interruptions on account of the resurgence of COVID-19. Once we streamline the work of digitisation of records in these centres, we can extend it to the other districts. However, for this purpose, it is essential that the old records are maintained properly. One important factor is that they must be arranged chronologically so that the number of records year-wise as well as court-wise is available. This information should be also entered in the computers and constantly updated.

During my visit to the district courts, and also during my personal interaction, I have learnt that the manner of maintaining records in the district courts is not entirely satisfactory. Not only the racks, but also the shelves in each rack must have clear, legible and visible labels. This has to be done separately for civil and criminal records. I urge you to bestow to your personal attention to this task. We will review the progress in this regard in a separate meeting that I propose to hold for this purpose soon.

Malkhana

The condition of the Malkhanas, particularly where the court complex is an old one, for e.g., Cuttack and Puri, requires urgent attention. Many of the items kept in Malkhanas do not have clear labels. It is, therefore, not possible to know whether it pertains to pending cases or disposed of cases. Some urgent steps will have to be taken to dispose of unusable and old articles for which we need the article to be categorised – perishable, weapons of offence, valuables, liquids, narcotics, currency and so on. If the old articles relate to pending cases, may I suggest that a videograph be taken of the articles from all angles and the clip be played in the presence of the counsel of that particular case to help them identify the article. The proceedings can be drawn up in the presence of counsel and the video clip itself can be encrypted with a hash value. I request you to send in your response to this proposal within ten days. After examining your responses, a standard operating procedure will be drawn up and sent to all of you.

I may share with you that we are trying to redevelop the Malkhana attached to the Cuttack District Court on pilot basis with the help of the Police. I am hopeful that if the pilot project succeeds, we develop a methodology to improve the maintenance and upkeep of Malkhanas in other courts in the State of Odisha.

Pendency of ‘Year old’ Cases

I next turn to the topic that has troubled us the most. It is the pendency of ‘year old’ cases. While it is a matter of satisfaction that with the concerted efforts of all of you in the District Courts, we have been able to make some progress in disposal of ‘year old cases’, after the lockdown was lifted in August, 2021 there is much to be done on this account. I am particularly concerned about year old cases on the criminal side involving grave offences including those punishable under Section 302 IPC, under Section 376 IPC and allied Sections, under the POCSO Act, under the NDPS Act and the cases involving nearly 20,000 under-trial prisoners. As far as civil cases are concerned, again apart from execution cases and final decree cases, there are title suits which are pending for nearly three decades in some of the courts. A variety of reasons have been put forth to explain why there is continuing delay in disposal of such cases. The reasons include non-cooperation of the lawyers and stay orders granted by the higher courts including the Supreme Court of India.

For the purposes of the interaction with each of you, my Officers have been working tirelessly to compile statistics with your help. The updated statistics in this regard pertaining to your district available with the High Court as of 30th September 2021 is enclosed as Enclosure-F. I request you to kindly go through the enclosed statements and confirm by e-mail to the Registrar (Vigilance)/Registrar (Inspection) of this Court before 1st November, 2021 that the said statistics correctly reflect the ground situation as far as your district is concerned. In particular, I would like you to inform them not later than 1st November, 2021: (i) Is the physical verification of records in each of the Courts in the outstations and the headquarters complete? (ii) The number of records found missing, with civil and criminal being indicated separately, Court wise; and (iii) What steps have been taken in regard to the missing records?

Each of you has to confirm that wherever there was a stay order preventing further progress of the case, whether civil or criminal, the Judicial Officers have treated such stay orders as vacated in view of the judgment of the Supreme Court in Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency v. Central Bureau of Investigation. Wherever information was awaited from the High Court, we have been working to inform the concerned Court the current status of the corresponding case in the High Court. Despite this, there are still some cases where no information is available even with the High Court. The enclosed chart (Enclosure-G) indicates in which cases the LCR is not available. If this pertains to the pending cases, immediate steps will have to be taken to reconstruct the LCR at your end. May I request you to confirm this by a separate e-mail before 1stNovember, 2021 and whether the concerned Court has commenced the process of reconstruction of the LCR?
I request you to also inform the Registrar (Vigilance)/Registrar (Inspection) before 1st November, 2021 how many cases have been shifted to dormant file between 1st January 2021 and 30th September, 2021? If you can give this Court wise that would be helpful. I urge you to continue to remind the Judicial Officers in your districts of the need to apply Rules 326 to 329 of the GRCO (Criminal) Volume-1 as far as the old criminal cases are concerned.

Bar and Bench

Among the initiatives we have taken in the last nine months, one is the hands-on training of Bar members in the use of the various e-services launched by the e-Committee of the Supreme Court as well as this Court. This launched in the district headquarters at Sambalpur on 21st August, at Balasore on 27th August, at Berhampur on 3rd September, at Cuttack on 11th September, 2021, and at Bolangir on 9th October, 2021. I urge the Judges in these Districts to draw up a calendar of further training sessions for the Bar at least once in every month for the remaining months of 2021 and all of the working months of 2022. There has to be a continuous ongoing training at least for a year. I must say that this initiative has received a good response from the District Bar. Hopefully, this will go a long way for improving the Bar and Bench relations.

It is very important that for strengthening the judiciary in Odisha the Bar has to be strengthened. We have to facilitate the younger Members of the Bar to improve their skills using technology for the overall efficiency of the judicial system. This will undoubtedly improve access of the litigant public to the Court system and makes it more affordable and efficient.

During my interaction with the office bearers of the thirty District Bar Associations on 1st October 2021, at which each of the District Judges was also present, assurances were given by most District Bar Associations, which had not yet resumed full participation, that they would do so after the Puja Vacation. May I request you to confirm to the High Court not later than 1st November 2021 that this has happened? If it has not, could you also indicate the reasons?

Many of you have initiated an on-going dialogue with the Bar at the local level and this has certainly helped in the disposal of cases. I urge you to continue to do that. This is essential to keep the Courts working on a continuous basis in order to realise their full potential. May I also request you to draw the attention of the Bar to the fact that the expression “no adverse order be passed” can never really be complied with since any order, even a simple adjournment, is bound to hurt one party or the other in every case. I also request every judicial officer passing an order granting an adjournment to properly indicate the reasons why the adjournment is being granted particularly if it is on account of a Bar resolution. In other words, the order must reflect the true reasons why the adjournment is being granted.

Use of technology in courts

Another initiative launched in the last few months is the hands-on training for the Judicial Officers. This is to coincide with one another major initiative that is going to be launched on 1st November, 2021 where we will have two model virtual Court rooms one in Angul and the other in Nayagarh District. The idea is to encourage the Judicial Officers to adopt the virtual mode for speeding up the trial in sensitive cases. This will obviate witnesses having to travel long distances and wait with uncertainty in the Court premises. The success of this experiment will teach us whether we can adopt and adapt these techniques for improving the efficiency of each and every Court in the Districts in Odisha.

The response to the hands-on training of the Judicial Officers has also been very encouraging. The idea is to provide such training to each and every Judicial Officer in the next few months. I must take the opportunity to thank the master trainers who have participated with these efforts and owe them a debt of gratitude for tirelessly working beyond the call of duty for this purpose. The list of master trainers is enclosed with their mobile number under Enclosure-H. They can be reached at any time by the judicial officers for any doubt still they may have on the working of the virtual Courts.

As indicated in the interactions, it is necessary for the Judicial Officers to make sure that the figures on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) website tallies with the figures on the ground in terms of the number of cases pending in each Court. Also, it should be the responsibility of every judicial officer to ensure that all the up-loadable orders are in fact uploaded promptly. Judicial officers should also be encouraged to regularly visit the NJDG website for better case management and Court management. They should also be proactive in examining the performance of their contemporaries in other Districts in Odisha as well as in other States in India so that they can set for themselves higher benchmarks to achieve.

Functioning of the legal services authorities at the district level
Lastly, I may make a mention of the functioning of the Legal Services Authorities at the District level. There is a legal awareness drive launched by the National Legal Services Authority on 2nd October, 2021. An intense awareness drive is expected to be undertaken at every level of the State judiciary till 14th November 2021. May I request you to take a special interest in this regard and involve a wide cross section of society, to enable visits by the Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs) and other legal services support staff so that every village in the State of Odisha is covered by these awareness programmes. Likewise, the holding of Lok Adalats at the level of the District can be facilitated if you are able to send a feedback to the Odisha State Legal Services Authority on a need for having special drives in particular types of cases, e.g. N.I. Act cases, Land Acquisition cases or Motor Vehicle Act cases etc.

Other issues

I request that, where not already done, in every court complex, at the entrance, the Preamble of the Constitution of India, both in English and Odia, must be prominently displayed.

The DLSAs shall ensure that the text of Article 39A of the Constitution of India both in English and Odia is displayed at a conspicuous place in the office of the DLSA.

I am sure that with the collective efforts of all of us, we can improve the overall functioning of the judiciary in Odisha. We owe this to the people of Odisha for whom, we as an institution discharge our responsibilities in accordance with the Constitution.

S.Muralidhar
Chief Justice