Registry
The Rules of the High Court of Orissa, 1948 lays down the procedures for functioning of the different branches of the Court. The High Court has two major wings: Judicial and Administrative. The administrative wing otherwise known as the Registry of the High Court has different departments further divided into various sections manned by High Court officials. The organizational structure is depicted on the facing page. It is headed by the Registrar General of the High Court.
There are four categories of officers in the Registry;
The Judicial Officers and the Ministerial Officers supervise the functioning of the offices in the Registry. The Secretarial officers and staff are attached to the Chief Justice and the Judges. The officers working on deputation discharge specific functions – the Chief Accounts Officer deputed by the Finance Department of the Government looks after the budget of District Judiciary and acts as a Financial Advisor, the Medical Officer (Allopathy) and the Medical Officer (Homeopathy), both deputed by the Health Department of the Government manage the High Court Dispensary and Homeopathy Dispensary respectively. The Registrar General oversees the functioning of every wing.
The Registrar General and the Officers of the Registry
Organizational structure of the Registry
Incumbency of Judicial Officers in the Registry during 2021
| Sl. No. | Name of the post | Name of the officer | Tenure |
| 1 | Registrar General | Malaya Ranjan Dash | Till 9th March, 2021 |
| Chittaranjan Dash | From 9th March, 2021 | ||
| 2 | Registrar (Administration) | Rajendra Kumar Tosh | Till 9th March, 2021 |
| Dilip Kumar Mishra | From 9th March, 2021 to 3rd November, 2021 | ||
| Biswajit Mohanty (in-charge) | From 3rd November, 2021 | ||
| 3 | Registrar (Vigilance) | Dr. Radha Kanta Mishra | Till 15th February, 2021 |
| Biswajit Mohanty | From 5th April, 2021 | ||
| 4 | Officer on Special Duty (Vigilance) | Sitikantha Samal | For the entire year |
| 5 | Registrar (Inspection) | Pratap Kumar Patra | Till 16th July, 2021 |
| Pravakar Ganthia | From 16th July, 2021 | ||
| 6 | Coordinator, Arbitration Centre | Miss Rekha Prasad | Till 10th March, 2021 |
| Damodar Rath | From 10th March, 2021 to 22nd November, 2021 | ||
| Soumyak Patra | From 30th November, 2021 | ||
| 7 | Registrar (Judicial) | Lalit Kumar Dash | Till 15th February, 2021 |
| Pratap Kumar Patra (in-charge) | From 15th February, 2021 to 9th March, 2021 | ||
| Suman Kumar Mishra | From 9th March, 2021 | ||
| 8 | Member-Secretary, State Court Management System (SCMS) | Rajesh Dash | Till 9th March, 2021 |
| Damodar Rath (in-charge) | From 9th March, 2021 to 29th October, 2021 | ||
| Soumyak Patra | From 29th October, 2021 to 30th November, 2021 | ||
| Sitikantha Samal (in-charge) | From 30th November, 2021 | ||
| 9 | Secretary, Juvenile Justice Committee | Dr. Pabitra Mohan Samal | Till 9th March, 2021 |
| Pratap Kumar Patra (in-charge) | From 9th March, 2021 to 16th July, 2021 | ||
| Pravakar Ganthia (in-charge) | From 16th July, 2021 to 8th December, 2021 | ||
| Santosh Kumar Dash Ray | From 8th December, 2021 | ||
| 10 | Special Officer (Administration) | Basudev Acharya | Till 10th March, 2021 |
| Santosh Kumar Dash Ray | From 10th March, 2021 to 8th December, 2021 | ||
| Santosh Kumar Dash Ray(in-charge) | From 8th December, 2021 | ||
| 11 | Central Project Coordinator | Anupam Patra | For the entire year |
| 12 | Deputy Registrar (Protocol) | Dr. Deepak Ranjan Sahoo | Till 10th March, 2021 |
| Debasish Mohanty | From 10th March, 2021 | ||
| 13 | Special Officer (Special Cell) | Nihar Ranjan Sahoo | Till 10th March, 2021 |
| Chhayakanta Dash | From 10th March, 2021 | ||
| 14 | Deputy Registrar (Judicial) | Janmejaya Das | Till 16th July, 2021 |
| Satya Prakash Ray Choudhury | From 16th July, 2021 | ||
| 15 | Addl. Coordinator, Arbitration Centre | Bishnudev Jena | Till 16th July, 2021 |
| Sukumar Mohapatra | From 16th July, 2021 | ||
| 16 | Assistant Registrar (Administration) | Himanshu Sekhar Acharya | Till 10th March, 2021 |
| Ashish Kumar Sahoo | From 10th March, 2021 |
Job description of Judicial Officers appointed in the Registry
| Officer | Job Description |
| Registrar General | oversees the work of all other officers of the Registry and handles the important matters entrusted by the Chief Justice;represents the High Court in administrative and judicial matters before the Supreme Court; handles the correspondence with the Supreme Court, the other High Courts, the Central Government, the State Government and other authorities; guides the Deputy Registrar (Protocol) in protocol matters. |
| Registrar (Vigilance) | deals with the allegations and enquiries against Judicial Officers as well as the staff of the District Judiciary;deals with matters relating to the infrastructure of the District Judiciary, in respect of which he coordinates with the concerned committee constituted by the Chief Justice as well as with the District Courts and the executing agencies like the PWD; deals with the matters relating to rules of procedure applicable to the District Judiciary. |
| Registrar (Judicial) | discharges the functions assigned to him in the High Court Rules;deals with matters relating to budget and accounts, buildings and vehicles of the High Court; deals with the matters relating to service of the employees of the High Court;coordinates and sends replies to questions relating to the High Court raised in the Parliament and the State Legislative Assembly;supervises the Administrative and Judicial Sections of the High Court function under his supervision; also deals with the matters relating to framing of rules governing procedures meant for the High Court. |
| Registrar (Administration) | deals with matters relating to the District Judiciary and Judicial Officers except allegations, enquiries, buildings and statistics; places before the Committee the appeals filed by the staff of the District Judiciary against orders passed on the administrative side in matters concerning their service; looks after matters relating to the District Judges’ Conference; coordinates and sends replies to parliament questions and Assembly questions with regard to District Judiciary; deals with the budget, the allotment of funds and the accounts relating to District Judiciary |
| Registrar (Inspection) | Coordinates the inspection of Civil and Criminal Courts of the District Judiciary by the Chief Justice and the Judges; looks after compilation of statements and returns received by the Statistics section of the High Court from District Judiciary; is designated as the COVID Compliance Officer and looking after the COVID Care Centres of the High Court meant for the Judges, the Officers and Staff; is designated by the Chief Justice as Nodal Officer for the Digitization of Records. |
| Coordinator, Arbitration Centre | supervises the functioning of the Arbitration Centre and Mediation Centre of the High Court;coordinates the sittings of Arbitrators and Mediators for Arbitration and Mediation proceedings;is in-charge of the Judges’ Library, discharges the functions of the Secretary, High Court Legal Services Committee. |
| Officer on Special Duty (Vigilance) | assists the Registrar (Vigilance) in matters relating to allegations and enquiries;deals with the files regarding sanction of leave of the Judicial Officers;is designated as Registrar (Examination) for dealing with examinations relating to recruitment to the posts of the various cadres of the High Court. |
| Secretary, Juvenile Justice Committee | assists the High Court Juvenile Justice Committee (HCJJC); provides information on issues pertaining to children and issues communications on behalf of the HCJJC to the concerned departments;organises conferences, seminars and consultations on the direction of the HCJJC, drafts its agenda, prepares minutes and coordinates with the concerned departments; maintains necessary information which may be relevant for the HCJJC for its robust functioning. |
| Member Secretary, State Court Management System | deals with the preparation of the vision document for the High Court and the District Courts and preparation of an action plan for disposal of old cases; places information about the District Court Management Systems before the SCMS Committee constituted for the purpose and ensures implementation of the policies formulated from time to time. |
| Central Project Coordinator | looks after computerization of offices in the High Court and the District Judiciary under the e-Courts Project;oversees the digitization of records and e-filing of the cases;oversees the functioning of the virtual hearing in the High Court and the District Courts;provides technical assistance for the functioning of the High Court and the District Courts. |
| Special Officer (Administration) | oversees the functioning of the Appointment Section of the Court which deals with matters relating to service of the Judicial Officers;works under the supervision of Registrar (Administration) and assists in matters relating to the District Judges’ Conference; assists Registrar (Judicial) in matters concerning appointment of the Law Reporter and in-service matters of the Gazetted officers of the Ministerial and Secretarial cadres in the Registry. |
| Special Officer (Special Cell) | oversees the preparation of the budget and accounts and deals with the service matters of the Gazetted and Non-gazetted employees of the High Court, except the Ministerial Officers; looks after matters relating to the Rules, General Rules, Circulars and orders of the High Court relating to the practice and procedures of the District Judiciary;Issues General letters, circulars and other instructions of general nature on behalf of the High Court. |
| Deputy Registrar (Judicial) | discharges judicial functions delegated by the Registrar (Judicial) in accordance with Rule 2 of Chapter V of the Rules of the High Court of Orissa, 1948 subject to the orders of the Chief Justice; oversees the work of sections in Judicial Department of the High Court including the filing section and listing section; oversees preparation of the Cause Lists for Benches of the High Court according to the roster of assignment decided by the Chief Justice. |
| Deputy Registrar (Protocol) | coordinates the tours and visits of the Chief Justice and Judges of the High Court of Orissa within and outside the State; coordinates the tours and visits to Odisha of the Chief Justices and the Judges of other High Courts as well as of the Supreme Court to Odisha; coordinates with the State Government and the Police authorities in the matter of security of the High Court premises and the bungalows of the Chief Justice and the Judges apart from their security during tours; deals with telephone connections of the High Court building and residential buildings of the Court. |
| Additional Coordinator, Arbitration Centre | deals with the matters relating to Arbitration and Mediation Centre; deals with Appeals filed by the staff of the District Judiciary against orders passed on the administrative side in matters concerning their service;sends replies to questions relating to the High Court raised in the Parliament and the State Legislative Assembly; deals with matters relating to buildings of District Judiciary and such other matters as are entrusted to him by the Chief Justice; is designated as Nodal Officer for records received from the Odisha Administrative Tribunal after its abolition. |
| Assistant Registrar (Administration) | is in-charge of matters relating to buildings of the High Court, Court Guest House at Cuttack, Community Centre and the High Court Museum;is entrusted to look after the Class-IV establishment, matters relating to the vehicles, stock and stores of the High Court |
The previous sanctioned strength, present sanctioned strength, working strength and vacancy of the posts presently coming under all Group cadres are indicated in Appendix C
Overall Staff Strength of the High Court
| Gazetted | Ministerial | Class-IV | Total | |
| Sanctioned Strength (as on 31.12.2021) | 215 | 855 | 155 | 1,225 |
| Working Strength (as on 31.12.2021) | 182 | 471 | 135 | 788 |
