On 4th January, 2023 for the first time the High Court organized a friendly meet for the Bar and Bench on the occasion of New Year. Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice and the Judges of the High Court of Orissa were present on the occasion. The Advocate General, Odisha, the Deputy Solicitor General of India for the High Court of Orissa, the President and Office Bearers of the High Court Bar Association also attended on the occasion alongwith the Senior Advocates, the Law Officers for the State Government and the Union of India as well as other Departments. This initiative was seen as an effort to unite the Bar and Bench and the Bar appreciated the gesture of the High Court.

On the occasion the High Court launched the system of automated SMS alerts to the Advocates regarding the defects found in their cases facilitate them to know the status of their cases and remove the same. Dr. S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice, High Court of Orissa informed the Bar that it was an occasion to thank the Bar for the active cooperation in all the endeavours of the High Court.

Visit of senior citizens to the High Court

On 25th March 2023, senior citizens from an Old Age Home of Isani Berhampur, Nischintakoili visited the High Court of Orissa along with Museum of Justice and Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA). The High Court officials explained various aspects of judicial functioning to the senior citizens. Advocates Mr. Iswar Mohanty and Aurolina Pal interacted with them and they were elated being present in the Chief Justice’s Courts and Chambers in the Heritage Building and the New Building of the Court and knowing about Former Chief Justices and Judges.

They visited the newly inaugurated Museum of Justice where Museum officials explained about the importance of artefacts displayed there as well as the evolution of justice system. They also visited the Aain Seva Bhawan which houses the office of Odisha State Legal Services Authority where they were told about the Alternative Dispute Redressal (ADR) mechanism and its contribution in redressal of the grievances of poor litigants. The idea of arranging a visit of the senior citizens to the High Court can be seen as another step forward by the High Court towards reaching out to the marginalized sections of the society.

Continuing the practice initiated in 2021 the High Court organized visits of students from Kendriya Vidyalaya No.3, Bhubaneswar and DAV public school, Pokhariput, Bhubaneswar to the High Court on 29th April and 1st July, 2023 respectively. Registry officials explained various aspects of judicial functioning to the students. The students saw the Chief Justice’s Courts and Chambers in the Heritage Building and the New Building of the High Court, Judges’ Library and the Conference Halls. The students were shown video clips of swearing-in-ceremony of Judges and explained the procedure involved therein. Video clip of the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation was also played for viewing of the students in the Chief Justice’s court room. In Museum of justice, students could learn the evolution of Judicial system in Odisha and got glimpses of the richness of Odisha’s culture showcased there. The purpose of organizing such visits is to bring transparency about the real functioning of judiciary which is different from the myths prevailing in the society.

First time in the history, the premises of the High Court of Orissa were opened on 5th August, 2023 for guided tour of the public on every Saturday except on declared holidays. Two shifts of tour in a day (each tour comprising 40 persons), the first shift from 10:00 AM to 11.30 AM and the second shift from 11.30 AM to 1:00 PM are arranged. The tour facilitate the visitors to view the majestic court rooms of the Heritage Building and New Building and other important places of the High Court. The visitors are guided by the officials and given brief understanding on the functioning of court. In order to bring people closer to judiciary, the High Court of Orissa has adopted this citizen-centric initiative. The public interact with registry officials and put queries regarding justice administration.

On 17th December, 2023, for the third consecutive year, the High Court of Orissa released the Judicial Calendar of Odisha featuring paintings of school children in Justice Gati Krushna Mishra Auditorium of the Odisha Judicial Academy.

On 12th November, 2023 painting competitions were held among the school children of Class- VII to X across the State on the theme “Global Warming” by the District Courts under aegis of the High Court of Orissa. 1782 children participated in the competitions and 3 paintings were selected each district. The 90 paintings adjudged 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the districts were brought to Cuttack and out of them 12 paintings were selected by the Committee of Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo, Justice Savitri Ratho and Justice Gourishankar Satapathy.

The 12 paintings were of Shriyans Panda of Cuttack, Sibasish Das of Kendrapada, Subha Ommkar Rath of Kalahandi, Samapika Nayak of Jajpur, Rudra Prasad Patra of Jagatsinghpur, Priyadarshini Muduli of Mayurbhanj, Basudev Gamango of Gajapati, Shovit Kushal of Sonepur, Satyajit Sahoo of Cuttack, Ashirbad Das of Angul, Yogeswar Deep of Nuapada and S. Satyam Achary of Koraput. Those paintings have found place in the Judicial Calendar of Odisha, 2024.

In the function in Odisha Judicial Academy the calendar was released by Dr. Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, Acting Chief Justice in the presence of the Judges of High Court of Orissa. Eminent Academician & Writer and Padma Bhusan Awardee Dr. Pratibha Ray, Eminent Vocalist and Padma Shri Awardee Smt. Shyamamani Devi and acclaimed sculptor Shri Rabi Rath were the special guests. Former Judges of the High Court, Advocate General of Odisha, office bearers of High Court Bar Association and government officials also attended the event.

The 12 children artists were felicitated by the Acting Chief Justice, Judges and guests with certificates of appreciation, medals and prizes. It was a proud moment for the children as well as their parents who were present in the function. Their paintings were displayed before the audience in large screens.

There was a tragic rail accident at Bahanaga of Balasore district on 2nd June, 2023 in which 296 people died and over 1200 peoples were injured. To support the persons injured in the rail accident the High Court of Orissa organized a Blood Donation Camp on 3rd June, 2023. The Judges and employees of the High Court wholeheartedly participated in the Camp and 135 units of blood were collected with the help of Indian Red Cross Society.

Subsequently, on 9th November, 2023 another Blood Donation Camp was held in the High Court on the request of Indian Red Cross Society in view of shortage of blood in the blood bank. The employees again participated and 139 units of blood were collected with the help of Indian Red Cross Society.

On 23rd September, 2023 a free Health Camp was held in the High Court of Orissa for its employees. The Health Camp was inaugurated by Justice Subhasis Talapatra, Chief Justice in presence of the Judges. Director and Joint Director of Health Services, Chief District Medical Officer, Cuttack, Superintendent, DHH, Cuttack and other senior Doctors were present on the occasion.

During the Health Camp 845 employees registered for their health check-up. 21 Doctors of various disciplines of medical science along with laboratory technicians and support staff conducted the Camp. Facilities of consultation and tests by Specialists in Medicine, Orthopaedics, Surgery, Dental, Ophthalmology, ENT and Obstetrics & Gynaecology including ECG tests and Fibro scans were availed by the employees free of cost.

The Health Camp was organized by High Court with a view to creating awareness and educating the employees about health care. Through the Health Camp information about the health condition of the employees were collected and a database was created in the High Court of Dispensary.

In 2023 the High Court continued its practice of acknowledging the contribution of its employees by way of felicitating them on completion of 25 years of service and on retirement. 14 employees were felicitated in 2023 for completion of 25 years of service and 20 employees were felicitated during the year on their retirement.

• Bidyadhar Behera, Head Driver

• Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, Secretary

• Subash Chandra Sar, Section Officer

• Nirmalendu Jee, Joint Registrar (Judicial)

• Jagannath Mohapatra, Additional Deputy Registrar (J&E)

• Bikram Sethi, 1st Assistant Registrar (Judicial)

• Ashok Kumar Choudhury, Asst. Registrarcum- Court Officer

• Suresh Chandra Baral, Superintendent

• Dr. Gitanjali Satapathy, Homeopathy Medical Officer

• Banabihari Rout, Senior Driver

• Pravat Kumar Dash, Senior Grade Diarist

• Madan Mohan Mohapatra, Diarist

• Suresh Chandra Sahu, Jamadar

• Jyoti Ranjan Mohapatra, Superintendent

• Barenya Kumar Samal, Additional Deputy Registrar (J&E)

• Kalpana Kumari Acharya, Multi Purpose Health Worker

• Lingaraj Behera, Senior Stenographer

• Dhruba Charan Singh, Head Driver

• Naba Kishore Naik, Superintendent

• Gopal Samal, Duftary

In 2023, one former Chief Justices of India, one former Judge of the Supreme Court of India and thirty-nine lawyers of the High Court Bar Association passed away. The High Court paid homage to each of them by holding Full Court references.

Former Chief Justices of India
• Justice A.M. Ahmadi

Former Judges of the Supreme Court of India

• Justice M. Fathima Beevi

Members of the High Court Bar Association

• Biswajit Mohanty
• Bibhudananda Mohapatra
• Nabakishore Das
• Purna Chandra Pattnaik
• Chitta Ranjan Mohanty
• Rabinarayan Sahoo
• Subhasish Sen
• Kunja Behari Kar
• Debendra Kumar Mohanty
• Bivas Kumar Mishra
• Sayed Rafiq Ahmed
• Manas Ranjan Mohapatra
• Kshirod Kumar Das
• Brajabandhu Biswal
• Bhagyadhar Das
• Samarendra Pattnaik
• Smruti Ranjan Mohapatra
• Prem Kumar Pattnaik
• Kedarnath Parida
• Damodar Prasad Mohanty
• Girish Chandra Mohapatra
• Sidharth Sankar Baral
• Sanjay Kumar Bhagat
• Nibedita Pradhan
• Prasanta Kumar Mohanty
• Choudhury Chandrasekhar
• Prasanna Kumar Ray
• Surendra Kumar Nayak
• Sabyasachi Tripathy
• Prasanta Kumar Nayak
• Dhuliram Pattanaik
• Pramod Kumar Pattanaik
• Anil Kumar Dash
• Subha Sundar Sastri
• Gautam Panda
• Y. Surya Prakash Babu
• Niranjan Parija
• Sidheswar Mohanty
• Braja Kishore Jena

Besides, two Judicial Officers and four employees of the High Court passed away in 2023. The High Court pays homage to the departed souls.

Judicial Officers of the State

• Manas Ranjan Ray, Senior Civil Judge
• Tanmay Kumar Mohanty, Additional District & Sessions Judge

Employees of the High Court

• Ashok Kumar Nayak, Section Officer
• Umakanta Sahoo, Secretary
• Naba Kishore Mallick, Duftary
• Kailash Chandra Sahoo, Group-D employee