Infrastructure
60 Courts in various districts of the State were made functional in 2021. Further, 22 Courts have been established for which infrastructure for accommodation of courts and residence of officers are ready and are likely to be made functional in 2022. The details have been provided at Appendix-D.
The Busbar Trunking System (BTS) was inaugurated on 12th April, 2021. It replaced the old electrical system in the Court’s Heritage Building.
BTS is a state-of- the-art mechanism to ensure optimal utilization of electricity with real-time web-based monitoring of the electrical system. With the adoption of BTS, the humongous mess of old and outdated electrical cables covering the Heritage Building stood substituted with sophisticated, cutting-edge infrastructure of power distribution.
To enhance the capabilities of employees, it was decided to improve the working environment. The infrastructure and layout in the listing section, the computer section and the Second Appeal Section and Criminal Miscellaneous Section was upgraded. The remaining sections are proposed to be upgraded in the first half of 2022
The Mediation Centre was functioning in a room adjacent to the old Arbitration Centre in the heritage building. The space was inadequate for its effective functioning. Over the years, mediation has proved to be a viable ADR mechanism. There has been a steady increase in the cases referred for mediation. Besides, space was needed to accommodate the newly constituted Permanent and Continuous Lok Adalat for the High Court (P&CLA).
On 20th November 2021, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice A.S. Bopanna, Judges, Supreme Court of India inaugurated the new location of the mediation centre and the P&CLA in two separate wings in the second floor of the newly constructed Aain Seva Bhawan, a four-storied building in which the Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA) and the Orissa High Court Legal Services Committee function from the ground and first floors.
The Mediation Centre has four well – equipped ICT – enabled mediation Rooms, two parties’ lounges, two advocates’ lounges and two psychological counselling rooms. In the separate P&CLA wing there are two Court Rooms, 1 room for the Permanent Lok Adalat, Cuttack, a crèche, a record room, a reprographic room and pantry.
Since 18th October 2014, the Arbitration Centre of the High Court was functioning in the heritage building. There was paucity of space to accommodate the growing number of arbitrations over the years. The Centre is also required to be modernized. Accordingly, the arbitration centre has been shifted to the third floor of Aain Sewa Bhawan and it was inaugurated at its new location on 11th December, 2021 by Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Judge, Supreme Court of India. The arbitration centre at the new location has a modern look and is ICT-enabled. It has six Arbitration Rooms, two Arbitrators lounges with separate lunch rooms, two advocates’ lounges, a record room, a reprographic room and a pantry. The offices of the centre are also located here.
