Review Committee

During 2024, Dr. Justice B.R. Sarangi, former Acting Chief Justice was the Chairman of this Committee till 18th June, 2024 and its member till 05th July, 2024. Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh, the Chief Justice was the Chairman from 19th June, 2024 till 05th July, 2024. Justice Arindam Sinha, was a member of the Committee till 05th July, 2024.

Dr. Justice S.K. Panigrahi was member of this Committee till 18th June, 2024 and again became its member on 06th July, 2024. Justice D. Dash was the member of the committee till 11th October, 2024. Justice Savitri Ratho became member of this committee on 26th October, 2024. The Review Committee reviews the performance of judicial officers immediately prior to their completing the ages of 50 years, 55 years and 58 years. The Committee recommends whether they should continue in service beyond those ages. In the process, the Committee may even recommend, for the reasons to be recorded, compulsory retirement of officers found inefficient or of doubtful integrity. The performance of 34 Judicial Officers was reviewed by Committee during 2024 and out of them, one officer was given compulsory retirement.

Permanent Committee for the designation of
Advocates as Senior Advocates

During 2024, Dr. Justice B.R. Sarangi, former Acting Chief Justice was the Chairman of this Committee till 14th February, 2024 and its member till 05th July, 2024. Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh became the Chairman of the Committee as the Chief Justice from 15th February, 2024.

Justice D.Dash was the member of the Committee till 14th February, 2024 and again became its member on 06th July, 2024 till 11th October, 2024. Justice S.K. Sahoo became member of the Committee from 26th October,2024 and continued till the remaining part of the year.

This Committee was constituted on 25th March, 2019 under Rule-3 of High Court of Orissa (Designation of Senior Advocates) rules, 2019 and examines the applications received from advocates and makes recommendations as per the High Court of Orissa (Designation of Senior Advocates) rules, 2019.

In exercise of the power conferred by the sub-section (1) of Section 34 read with sub-section (2) of Section 16 of the Advocates Act, 1961 (Act No. 25 of 1961) and in pursuance of Judgment dated 12th May, 2023 passed in M.A. Nos. 709/2022, 1502/2021 in W.P. (C) No. 454 of 2015 (Indira Jaising-vrs- Supreme Court of India through Secretary General) by the Supreme Court of India, necessary amendments of the High Court of Orissa (Designation of Senior Advocates) Rules, 2019 have been carried out vide Gazette No. 2852 dated 15.12.2023. The Amended Rules shall be called the “The High Court of Orissa (Designated of Senior Advocates) Amendment Rules, 2023”.

During 2024, 29 applications were received from Advocates for designation as Senior Advocates. The Committee examined those applications, out of which 4 applications were rejected. The remaining applications are under active consideration, however, till the end of the year, no advocates were designated as Senior Advocates.

Vigilance and Disciplinary Committee

This committee examines complaints received against judicial officers and recommends whether they should be proceeded with by way of a disciplinary action or the complaints should be dropped. Complaints that are anonymous or unsupported by an affidavit or unverified are usually not entertained.

During 2024, Dr. Justice B.R. Sarangi, former Acting Chief Justice was the Chairman of this Committee till 18th June, 2024. Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh became the Chairman of the Committee as the Chief Justice from 19th June, 2024. Justice K.R. Mohapatra was member of the Committee till 18th June, 2024. Justice D. Dash was member of the Committee till 11th October, 2024. Justice S.K. Sahoo became member of this Committee on 26th October, 2024.

Appeal Committee for subordinate Courts

The Committee has been constituted in terms of Rule 10 of Chapter – II of the Rules of the High Court of Orissa, 1948. It deals with appeals and representations made on the administrative side by the Judicial Officers and staff of the District Judiciary against the orders passed by the Appointing Authority and Disciplinary Authority.

The provisions contained in Rules 22 & 23 of the Odisha Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1962, permit the non-gazetted staff of the District Judiciary to prefer appeal against the penalties imposed on them by the Disciplinary Authority and orders passed by the Appointing Authority respectively.

At the beginning of 2024, 19 appeals were pending. During the year, 10 new appeals were preferred and 25 appeals were disposed of by the Committee. Accordingly, 4 appeals are pending.

Judicial Academy and Training Committee

During 2024, Dr. Justice B.R. Sarangi, former Acting Chief Justice was the Patron-in-Chief till 14th February, 2024. Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh became the Patron-in-Chief as the Chief Justice from 15th February, 2024. Justice D. Dash was the Chairman of the Committee till 09th July, 2024.Justice S.K. Sahoo served as Chairman of the Committee from 10th July, 2024 till 25th October, 2024. Justice K.R. Mohapatra became Chairman of the Committee on 26th October,2024 Justice K.R. Mohapatra and Justice G. Satapathy were members of the Committee till 18th June, 2024.

This Committee is entrusted with the responsibility of taking decisions regarding the training to be imparted to newly recruited judicial officers as well as continuing education to the serving ones. It finalizes the calendar of training workshops, seminars, conferences and events for the entire year. The Committee elicits feedback from the participants at every workshop and training session.

A central focus of the Committee is to update the knowledge of judicial officers on judicial ethics, judicial skills, sensitization in the areas of gender, disabilities, social issues, poverty, access to justice and environment.

Infrastructure Review Committee

This Committee was formed on 10th June, 2024 to review the progress of different infrastructural projects of the High Court and its allied organs i.e. Odisha Judicial Academy, Odisha State Legal Services Authority so also to review all infrastructural work of district judiciary of the state

Information Technology (IT) and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) Committee

Justice S. Ratho became a member of this Committee on 06th July, 2024.

This Committee is assigned the tasks of implementing various initiatives of the e-Committee of the Supreme Court of India under the e-Courts project, Information & Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives of The High Court of Orissa, AI related initiatives under the guidance of the AI Committee of the Supreme Court. Some of the notable works carried under the supervision of this Committee in 2024 include inauguration of 95 paperless courts in various districts of the state, launching of e-RTI service for District Court of the state, launching of Judicial Officers’ Grievance redressal portal, paperless movement of case records in judicial sections of the High Court and launching of e-HCR portal, Warrant Management System and Internal Complaints Committee portal of the High Court.

Rules Committee for all Rules
(except under Section 123 CPC)

Registrar (Judicial) acts as Secretary of the committee for making rules relating to High Court Establishment and Registrar (Vigilance) acts as Secretary of the committee for all other matters.

The Committee constituted under Rule- 7 of the Rules of the High Court of Orissa, 1948, considers proposals to annul, alter or add or to make new Rules for the High Court of Orissa as well as for the District Judiciary of the State.

In 2024, the Committee recommended amendments to various Rules and schemes. Significant among the suggested amendments were the amendments to the High Court of Orissa (Appointment of Staff and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2019 regarding Scheme of selection and appointment of Research Assistants and change in qualification and syllabus of examination for the post of Translator, e-Filing Rules of the High Court of Orissa, 2024, e-Filing Rules for District Courts and Tribunals under control and supervision of the High Court of Orissa, 2024, The High Court of Orissa Guidelines for Recording Evidence of Vulnerable Witnesses and Functioning of Vulnerable Witnesses Deposition Centre, 2024, the Rules of the High Court of Orissa, Vol-I & Vol-II and Scheme for Retention and Purchase of Furnishing Articles of Judges of the High Court of Orissa. The other important recommendations include amendment in the High Court of Orissa Guest House Rules, the Orissa professional Typists for Civil and Criminal Courts (Registration) Rules, 1981 and the Odisha Superior Judicial Service and Odisha Judicial Service Rules etc.

A list of the recommendations of the Committee made during the said period is at the Appendix- E attached herewith.

Departmental Promotion Committee for the staff
of the High Court (Other than Group-D)

This Committee deals with promotion of the employees of the High Court other than the Group-D employees. Besides, it also deals with the recruitment of Assistant Section Officers (ASOs) in the High Court and all other recruitment except for which other Committees are constituted. It also deals with matters relating to Court Managers.

In 2024, the Committee took up promotion of various cadres and 37 employees were promoted to different cadres as indicated in Appendix-F. In comparison, 49 employees in 2019, 62 employees in 2020, 72 employees in 2021, 108 employees in 2022 and 273 employees in 2023.

The Committee initiated the recruitment for 19 posts of Translators in the Court’s establishment for the year 2024. An advertisement was made for 19 posts of Translator for which 232 applications were received. Out of them, 132 candidates appeared in the Preliminary Examination and 34 candidates qualified. 33 candidates appeared in the Main Written Examination out of which 31 candidates qualified. These qualified candidates appeared in the Computer Application Test and out of them 30 candidates qualified. These 30 candidates appeared in the Viva-Voce Test and out of them only 12 candidates were provisionally selected for the post of Translator.

The Committee initiated the process of recruitment for Junior Grade Typist/D.E.O. An advertisement was made for 34 posts of Junior Grade Typist/D.E.O. for which 1424 applications were received. Out of them, 632 candidates appeared in the Preliminary Examination and 185 candidates qualified. 178 candidates appeared for the Language Test and 135 candidates qualified. 133 candidates appeared in the Computer Application Test out of them 122 candidates qualified. 121 candidates appeared in the Typewriting Test out of them only 17 candidates qualified. These candidates appeared in the Viva-Voce Test and all of them were provisionally selected for the posts of Junior Grade Typist/D.E.O.

The number of employees recruited during the year has been indicated at Appendix-G.

Examination Committee for recruitment of Officers in the Cadre of District Judge by way of Direct recruitment from the Bar and the Limited Competitive Examination

During 2024, Dr. Justice B.R. Sarangi, former Acting Chief Justice was the Chairman till 18th June, 2024. Justice K.R. Mohapatra, was a member of this Committee till 18th June, 2024.

This Committee deals with the examination for recruitment of Officers in the cadre of District Judge by way of direct recruitment from the Bar and through the Limited Competitive Examination. Consequent upon directions of the Supreme Court of India in Malik Mazhar Sultan -Vs- U.P. Public Service Commission (C.A.No.1867/2006), an Examination Cell has been constituted and is functioning from 17th August, 2021 onwards, under the supervision of Registrar (Examination), a Senior Judicial Officer in the cadre of District Judge who has been brought to the High Court on deputation. Two Superintendents with one S.O. and three A.S.Os and one Class-IV staff are working in the Cell. Other recruitment examinations are also entrusted to the Recruitment Cell by the Chief Justice from time to time.

For filling up 23 vacancies of 2023 in the cadre of District Judge by way of direct recruitment from the Bar, 390 applications were received pursuant to the advertisement issued on 30th August, 2023. 237 candidates appeared in the written test held on 05th November, 2023 and only 5 candidates qualified for the Interview held on 05th January, 2024. However, none of these 5 candidates who were interviewed could qualify. For filling up 12 vacancies of 2023 in the cadre of District Judge through Limited Competitive Examination, 72 applications were received. Out of them 64 candidates appeared in the written test and 2 candidates qualified for the Interview held on 05th January, 2024. Out of the 2 candidates, only 1 candidate qualified in the Recruitment Examination.

For filing up 31 vacancies of 2024 in the cadre of District Judge by way of direct recruitment from the Bar, 339 applications were received pursuant to the advertisement issued on 29th October, 2024. Similarly, for filing up of 14 vacancies of 2024 in the cadre of District Judge through Limited Competitive Examination, 83 applications were received. List of candidates (283-BAR & 83-LCE) who are eligible to appear in the Written Examination was published in the Court’s website on 06.12.2024. The Main Written Examination is scheduled to be held on 05th January, 2025.

Every effort is made to ensure that the new recruits meet the rigorous standards of quality.

Disposal Review Committee

During 2024, Justice Arindam Sinha was the Chairman of the Committee until 18th June, 2024. Justice S.K.Sahoo, was a member of the Committee until 18th June, 2024,

This committee has been constituted to come up with plausible case management and court management measures to tackle the issue of pendency of cases in the High Court. It also takes into account the relevant resolutions passed in this context by the Chief Justice’s conference as well as the “Arrear Eradication Scheme” suggested in the report of the Malimath Committee. Discussion between Committee for Model Case Flow Management Rules of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and Chairperson of Disposal Review Committee along with Chairperson of the SCMS Committee was held on 02.04.2024 via online platform for preparation of Action plan for Arrears reduction in the High Court as well as District Court. The suggestions of this Committee are conveyed to the Judges of the High Court as well as the District Courts. While the High Court recorded a decrease of 24.32% disposal in 2024 in comparison to the previous year, the District Judiciary recorded an increase of 5.63%. In 2024 the case clearance rate in High Court stood at 100.92% and that in the District Judiciary at 88.90%.

Committee for Family Court Matters including selection of Candidates for filling up the posts of Principal Counsellor/Counsellor in different Family Courts

This Committee was constituted in view of the directions issued by the Supreme Court of India, in a letter dated 9th June, 2016. The Registrar (Administration) is the Convenor of the Committee. A database of the cases pending in the Family Courts has been prepared under the supervision of this Committee.

This Committee oversees the various steps involved in the filling up the vacancies in the posts of counselors in the Family Courts. An expert is associated in the interviews conducted with the shortlisted candidates by the Committee. The Select lists as recommended by the Committee are placed before the High Court for approval. The Committee considered various matters including allegations, grievances and other ancillary matters concerning the Principal Counsellors and Counsellors of the Family Courts.

In 2024, no new appointments of Principal Counsellors and Counsellors were made.Till the end of the year 2024, out of 30 posts of Principal Counsellors, 12 were working and 18 were lying vacant. Likewise, out of 30 posts of Counsellors, 25 were working and 5 were lying vacant.

Mediation Monitoring Committee

Justice Arindam Sinha was the Chairman of the Committee till 25th October, 2024. Justice S. Ratho and Justice M.S. Sahoo were members of this Committee till 18th June, 2024.

This Committee oversees the functioning of the High Court of Orissa Mediation Centre, which was inaugurated on 3rdJanuary, 2015 which has been catering to the needs of the litigating parties by bringing about settlement between them. As of date, 62 trained mediators have been empanelled.

A whole range of issues including family disputes, commercial matters, civil and criminal both in pending cases and at the pre- litigation stage are referred to the Mediation Center. The services of Child Psychologist are also enlisted in select cases. Four well- equipped ICT-enabled mediation rooms have been made available for this purpose at a newly inaugurated state-of-the-art mediation Center.

In litigation cases, at the beginning of 2024, 31 cases were pending at the Centre. In the year 2024, 402 mediation proceedings were registered, 353 proceedings were disposed of and 80 proceedings are pending at the end of the year. Out of the disposed of proceedings, in 72 proceedings mediation was successful and in 281 proceedings it was unsuccessful.

In pre-litigation cases, at the beginning of 2024, 21 mediation proceedings were pending at the Centre. In 2024, 73 pre- litigation mediation proceedings were registered, 78 were disposed of and 16 such proceedings are pending. Out of the 78 disposed of cases, in 5 proceedings mediation was successful and in 6 proceedings mediation was unsuccessful and in 67 proceedings mediation was non-starter.

Arbitration Committee

Justice S.K. Sahoo was the Chairman of this Committee till 18th June, 2024. Justice B.P. Routray, was a member of this Committee till 18th June, 2024,

This Committee oversees the functioning of the High Court of Orissa Arbitration Centre. There is a panel of arbitrators consisting of former Judges of the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts, former District Judges, Senior Advocates, Advocates and Technical experts of different fields. It has its own set of rules and a fee structure. At the end of the year 2024, 130 Arbitrators were empanalled. Apart from cases referred to it by the High Court of Orissa and the District Courts under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, parties by mutual agreement can have their disputes resolved through arbitration at the Centre.

At the beginning of 2024, 127 arbitration cases were pending at the Centre. In 2024, 58 Arbitration cases were registered, 40 case were disposed of by pronouncement of awards and at the end of the year, 145 cases are pending.

Committee for Service Conditions of
the District Judiciary

Justice D. Dash was the Chairman of the Committee till 11th October, 2024.

This committee was constituted on 12th January, 2024 in pursuance to the direction of the Hon’ble Apex Court in case of W.P. (Civil) No. 643 of 2015, All India Judges’ Association vrs Union of India and Ors. for overseeing the implementation of the recommendations of the SNJPC as approved by the Hon’ble Apex Court .

The functions of the Committee is to oversee the proper implementation of the recommendations of the SNJPC, including pay, pension, allowances and allied matters as approved by the Hon’ble Apex Court by its order. It also acts as a single point nodal agency for the redressal of the grievances of the judicial officers, both serving and retired to secure the implementation of the recommendations of the SNJPC which has been approved by the Hon’ble Apex Court.

Juvenile Justice Committee

Justice D. Dash was the Chairman of the Committee till 11th October, 2024. Justice S.K.Sahoo was a member of the Committee till 18th June, 2024.

This Committee was constituted in 2013 pursuant to the resolution adopted by the Chief Justices’ Conference. The mandate of this Committee is to review and monitor the functioning of all juvenile justice institutions which would include the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) and the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) constituted under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of the Children) Act, 2015. The Committee has been overseeing the efforts at reducing the pendency of cases before the JJBs and the CWCs.

The Committee periodically convenes meetings of all stakeholders. As per the direction of the Hon’ble Committee, all the stakeholders were impressed upon to dispose of the year old Juvenile and POCSO cases expeditiously and a slew of specific instructions to different stakeholders were imparted in this regard. Review of progress in the arrangement of Court complex for smooth functioning of JJBs was discussed and the stakeholders were instructed to eradicate the infrastructural issues. Considering the difficulties faced by the inmates of the Child Care Institutions in taking admission in schools and availing benefits of govt. schemes, the Women and Child Development Department, Government of Odisha was instructed to take steps to issue AADHAAR Cards to all the inmates. The Hon’ble committee also gave emphasis for quick disposal of victim compensation applications by the DLSAs.

The Committee had undertaken a series of impactful initiatives in 2024, which include:

1. Suo Motu Writ Petition on Missing Child
2. Enhanced Digital Accessibility of the JJC Website
3. Review & monitoring action of Chief Justice regarding the JJ institutions
4. State-Level Consultation on Juvenile Justice Act Implementation:

A State Level Juvenile Justice Consultation was held on 01st September, 2024 in collaboration with the Odisha Judicial Academy, Department of Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD), Department of Women & Child Development (WCD), and UNICEF. The consultation was dedicated for exploring the effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, with a specific focus on the rights of children with disabilities (CwD).

RRDC, Digitization, Preservation, and Destruction of case records in the High Court and Subordinate Courts, Centre for Judicial Archives and Museum of Justice Committee.

Justice D. Dash was the chairman of the Committee till 18th June, 2024. Justice Sashikanta Mishra became the member of the Committee on 19th June, 2024.

The Committee deals with matters relating to digitization, preservation and destruction of records of disposed of cases of the High Court and the District Courts. It also oversees the functioning of the RRDC, the 4 District Court Digitization Centers (DCDCs), the 10 District Court Digitization Hubs, the Centre for Judicial Archives and the Museum of Justice.

02 (Two) No. of posts were advertised for recruitment to the posts of Law Researcher (Law) for which 63 applications were received. The written examination for the said posts is scheduled to be held on 15.01.2025. Also, 1 (One) post was advertised for recruitment to the post of Consultant, Law for the Centre for Judicial Archives of Odisha, Cuttack. The recruitment process is going on.

State Court Management System (SCMS) Committee

This Committee was constituted in terms of the resolution adopted in the Chief Justice’s Conference held in April 2013. The mandate of this Committee is to implement the National Plan for enhancing the quality, responsiveness and timeliness (QRT) of Courts of Orissa on uniform basis and to provide valuable input and suggestions to the National Court Management Systems (NCMS) Committee for better execution of the plan. The Committee is convened by its Member Secretary, who is a judicial officer of the District Judge cadre.

Pursuant to the Action Plan for Arrears Reduction in District Judiciary (APAaR-DJ) received from Hon’ble the Supreme Court of India, the same has been circulated to all the District Judges of the State and to the Member Secretary, OSLSA for necessary action. Accordingly, District Case Management Committees (DCMCs) have been formed in all the Judgeships having District Judge as its Chairperson, to accelerate the progress of case disposal and prioritizing the long pending cases.

Nodal Officers from Police Department to oversee service of summonses and warrants, and Senior Nodal Officers from Revenue Department to expedite final decree proceedings, have been assigned for all the judgeships of the State.
The Action Plan elaborately explains the steps to be taken by the District Case Management Committees (DCMCs) for preparation of targeted case lists, regular review, coordination with judicial officers and engaging with duty holders like bar association and Police administration etc.

Judge Mediators are assigned with yardsticks of 50% for successful Mediation and 25% for unsuccessful Mediation assigned/ prescribed for contested disposal of that category of case.

In collaboration with the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB), the High Court of Orissa has implemented the Warrant Management System (WMS) in all the judgeships of the State in the year 2024 for online transmission of warrants to police and tracking the execution thereof.

Pursuant to the directions from Hon’ble the Supreme Court of India in Yashpal Jain v. Sushila Devi & Ors., the Committee is ensuring compliance with the execution of summons under Order V Rule (2) of the CPC within the District Judiciary and monitoring cases pending for more than 5 years bi-monthly to expedite their resolution.

The Committee also supervises the annual upload of data related to the “Average Time Taken for Disposal of Cases” in the District Judiciary. This includes Family Courts, M.A.C. Tribunals, and other designated Courts, with the data being uploaded to the portal developed by the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India.

The monthly report regarding the disposal and pendency of 25 years old cases are being furnished by the District Judges every month and it is being monitored by the Administrative Judges of the respective judgeships on monthly basis.
By the end of December 2024, a total of 3213 cases (Civil-525, Criminal-2688) which were pending for more than 25 years had been disposed of. Currently, the number of pending cases stands at 2020 (Civil-648, Criminal-1372).

Additionally, the Committee focused on tracking the disposal of cases pending for more than 5/ 10 years, as part of the Action Plan, and issued directives to ensure compliance.

The disposal of ‘beyond 5 years old cases’ is 1,33,235 (Civil-35,367 & Criminal-97,868) during 2024 and the pendency stands at 6,66,526 (Civil-1,01,117 & Criminal-5,66,617) by 31.12.2024.

Judicial Calendar Committee

The Committee was constituted by the Chief Justice for the purpose of release of Judicial Calendar of Odisha, 2025. Under the supervision of the Committee, on 10^th November, 2024 painting competitions were held among the school children of Class-VII to X across the State on the theme “Rights of Differently Abled Children” by the District Courts under aegis of the High Court of Orissa. 1819 children participated in the competitions and 3 paintings were selected from each district. The 90 paintings adjudged 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in the districts were brought to Cuttack and out of them 12 paintings were selected by the Committee being assisted by Eminent Artist Shri Gajendra Prasad Sahu.

The 12 paintings were of Subha Ommkar Rath of Kalahandi, Ashribad Das of Anugul, Basudev Gamango of Gajapati, Ananta Behera of Jagatsinghpur, Shriyansh Panda of Cuttack, Sandeep Kumar Dubey of Nuapada, Bishnupriya Mohapatra of Mayurbhanj, Tuna Muduli of Koraput, Sibashis Das of Kendrapara, Suman Naik of Keonjhar, Dolbee Rani Parida of Jajpur and Shreya Mohanty of Puri. Those paintings have found place in the Judicial Calendar of Odisha, 2025.

In a function in Odisha Judicial Academy the calendar was released by Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh, Chief Justice, High Court of Orissa in the presence of the Judges of High Court of Orissa. Eminent Odia Film Actor, Director, Script Writer & Columnist Dr. Shri Prashant Nanda and Eminent Artist Shri Gajendra Prasad Sahu were the special guests. The 12 children artists were felicitated by the Chief Justice, Judges and guests with certificates of appreciation, medals and prizes in presence of their parents.

Rules Committee under Section 123 C.P.C

This Committee considers proposals to annul, alter or add to the Rules in the First Schedule of the CPC or to make new Rules. The Committee submits its recommendations in the form of a report to the High Court. Pursuant to the judgment dated 22nd April, 2021 of the Supreme Court of India in Rahul S Shah -vs-Jinendra Kumar Gandhi and batch of cases, Civil Appeal Nos. 1659-1660 of 2021, the Committee recommended significant amendments in the relevant provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 to facilitate expeditious execution of decrees in respect of immovable properties. This Committee considers proposals to annul, alter or add to the Rules in the First Schedule of the CPC or to make new Rules. The Committee submits its recommendations in the form of a report to the High Court. Relevant information is at Appendix-E.

High Court Library Committee

This Committee oversees the functioning of the Judges’ Library in the High Court. It may also deal with the stocking of the books in the libraries for the District Courts. As per the recommendation of the Committee, SCC Online journal was supplied to every judicial officer in the State. Further, AIR database www.aironline.in plus ILR Orissa Series (On-line) were provided to 205 existing officers of the cadre of District Judge. On the recommendation of the Committee, e-libraries for the Bar were opened in 30 District Court headquarters and 26 outlying stations of the State. Online journals of AIR Online Professional, Manupatra Online and OLT-CD were provided to the e-libraries of the Bar. Online Journals of SCC Online Web Edition- Platinum, AIR Online Professional, Manupatra, EBC Reader Platinum Edition and OLT-CD were provided to newly inaugurated Digital Reference Library in the eastern part of the Convention Hall of the High Court.

VWDC Committee

Justice V. Narasingh was a member of this Committee till 18th June, 2024. The VWDC Committee has been constituted in terms of the direction imparted vide Judgment dated 11th January, 2022 of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Misc. Application No. 1852 of 2019 in Criminal Appeal No. 1101 of 2019 in the case of Smruti Tukaram Badade vs. State of Maharashtra & Anr., in order to continuously supervise the implementation of the directions of Hon’ble the Supreme Court of India and to ensure establishment of the VWDCs and the matters connected thereto, etc. Besides, the Committee monitors and assesses the performance of the thirty (30) VWDCs, currently functioning in the District Headquarters Stations of all the Judgeships of the State.

Further, on 16th January,2024, the High Court has formulated “The High Court of Orissa Guidelines for Recording Evidence of Vulnerable Witnesses and Functioning of Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres, 2024” on repeal of “The High Court of Orissa Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres (VWDC) Scheme, 2022” and the same have been notified vide Notification No. 331/R dated 06.04.2024 of the High Court of Orissa, published in the Odisha Gazette vide No. 892 dated 06.04.2024, which have come into force w.e.f. 06.04.2024 vide notification no. 332/R dtd. 06.04.2024 of the High Court of Orissa, published in the Odisha Gazette vide No. 893 dated 06.04.2024.

In year 2024, a total of 14,913 numbers of Vulnerable Witnesses have been examined in the 30 VWDCs functioning in the District Courts of the State.

Annual Report Committe

This Committee monitors the work relating to the publication of the Annual Report. Three sub committees have been formed to assist the Committee. The sub-committee for collection, collation and synchronization of data formed having the Member Secretary, OSLSA, Registrar (Judicial), Editor-in-Chief, ILR Chapter, Cuttack, Special Officer (Special Cell) and the Special Officer (Administration) as its members. The sub-committee for designing, editing and printing of the report formed having the Director, Odisha Judicial Academy,Coordinator, High Court of Orissa Arbitration Centre, Registrar (Records) and the Central Project Coordinator as its members. The sub-committee for selection and preparation of synopsis of significant judgments formed having three Research Assistants as its members. The Annual Report of the High Court for the year 2024 has been published under the supervision of the Committee.

Purchase Committee

This Committee deals with matters relating to purchase/maintenance of articles for the Court’s Establishment in accordance with the prevailing Rules and Circulars of the Finance Department of the State Government. Besides, this Committee also deals with the matter relating to the disposal of moveable assets of the High Court. In 2024, the Committee carried out the disposal of different articles of the Court i.e. the Committee has decided to distribute Metal Racks, Steel Almirahs and Metal Bookshelves of good condition, phased out from the High Court after modernization, among the District Courts of the State. The Committee has further decided to dispose of the left-out articles of the Court through auction after their distribution to different District Courts of the State. Accordingly, a total of 35 nos metal racks, 104 nos. steel almirahs and 22 nos of metal bookshelves of good condition were distributed to different judgeships of the state. Further, the Committee ordered the disposal of left out 99 nos. of condemned metal furniture and other miscellaneous items of the Court i.e. the Committee decided to take steps for disposal of those condemned articles in consonance with Rule-281(ii) of O.G.F.R, 2023. Thus, after distribution of metal racks, steel almirahs and metal bookshelves as per the requirement of the District Courts, the remaining articles were disposed of and the sale proceeds of Rs.1,84,899/- (Rupees One Lakh Eighty Four Thousand Eight Hundred Ninety Nine) only was deposited in the appropriate head of account of the Government. Also the GST @5% towards it i.e. Rs.9,245/- (Rupees Nine Thousand Two Hundred Forty Five) only has already deposited in the appropriate Govt. Head through Treasury by the successful scrap dealer.

RCM Committee

The Committee deals with matters relating to reimbursement claims of medical expenses of sitting and former Judges and employees of the High Court. A total of Rs.1,05,79,000/- was reimbursed to the sitting and former Judges and the employees against their reimbursement claims during the financial year 2024.-25, till end of December,2024.

Internal Complaints Committee
(Sexual Harassment Committee)

This Committee has been constituted under Section-4(1) of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. In the year 2024, one complaint was received and the inquiry into the same was conducted. The said complaint was disposed of on 11th September, 2024 under section 10(1) of the Sexual Harassment of women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013. Similarly, an Internal Complaints Committee portal was launched in the Court’s Establishment on 03.12.2024.

Committee to consider all promotional matters from Group-D cadre to the entry level Group-C Cadre

This Committee deals with matters relating to promotion of Group-D employees to the entry-level Group-C posts i.e., Treasury Sarkar, Jamadar, Duftary, Attender, Cook- cum-Care taker and Mali-cum-Chowkidar. In the year 2024, the matter for considering the promotion from Group-D cadre to the entry level Group-C was not taken taken up as there was no significant vacancies in the Group-C cadre during the said period.

Committee to oversee the progress of cases
under PC & PNDT Act

At the beginning of the year, 2024, 14 cases under the PC & PNDT Act were pending in the State. During the year 2024, 7 cases were disposed of and 12 cases were pending at the end of the year. This Committee also deals with matters relating to (a) Setting up of Commercial Courts, Commercial Division & Commercial Appellate Division and (b) Disposal of NDPS cases in the State of Odisha.

Accessibility Committee

This Committee was constituted on 26th December, 2023. This committee serves as the Nodal Authority for taking pro-active measures to ensure greater accessibility of judicial process/ infrastructure within the Court and for putting in place a system to ensure that every stakeholder in the justice delivery system who is affected by a disability is given a reasonable accommodation, which they need. The Committee ensures that the cause list of a Court is not inaccessible to any person with disability.

The Committee consulted different stakeholders for consideration of recommendations made by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India for enhancing the physical and functional accessibility for the person with disabilities within Court premises.

AI Translation Committee

The Committee deals with matters concerning translation of reportable Supreme Court and High Court judgments/records through the AI tool called SUVAS (Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad Software) into vernacular language i.e., Odia. The Editor-in-Chief, ILR, Cuttack Series is the Convenor of this Committee.

The AI Assisted Legal Translation Advisory Committee of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, headed by Hon’ble Sri Justice Abhay S. Oka, is monitoring the progress of the AI translation work. A dedicated Translation Cell having 14 translators is strenuously working for translation of the Supreme Court and High Court reportable judgments and records, being validated by retired Judicial Officers in the cadre of District Judge. Till the end of 2024, 275 Supreme Court and 206 High Court judgments have already been translated into Odia and uploaded in the websites of the Supreme Court and High Court. Besides, the judgments are also being uploaded in the eSCR (eSupreme Court Records). All the sites are accessible to the public.

The availability of judgments in Odia is a great step for popularizing the Supreme Court and High Court judgments in Odia language. It will not only increase the accessibility of the people to the “Justice Dispensation System,” but also will be a great step toward the concept of justice at the doorstep.

Judicial Officers’ Grievance Redressal Committee

The Committee was constituted on 21st May, 2024 for redressal of the grievances received from the Judicial Officers of the state. In this regard a portal named as “Judicial Officer’s Grievance Redressal Portal” has been opened and same is available on the website of the High Court. In the year, 2024, 85 grievance petitions were received from Judicial Officers and all have been disposed of.