Annual Report 2024

CENTRE FOR JUDICIAL ARCHIVES,
HIGH COURT OF ORISSA

Established on 10 May 2022, the Centre’s main functions are acquisition, preservation, digitization and cataloguing of records. With these four basic principles of archival system, the Centre, therefore, immediately after its inception, has taken up these steps on priority basis.

Cataloguing of Records:

  1. 5912 files have been catalogued during the period from 01.01.2024 to 31.12.2024. (Total cataloguing till 31.12.2024 is 27493).
  2. Acquisition: The private papers of Bachu Jagannadh Das, ex-Judge of Supreme Court and Raja Madhusudan Dev, the former zemindar of Tekali and an eminent lawyer of Supreme Court were collected from Prof Lalit Kumar Dev, the custodian of those papers. Besides, Mr Gautam Kumar Acharya, Advocate, Supreme Court and grand nephew of late Justice Harihar Mohapatra donated the attires used as court uniform by Justice Mohapatra and copy of his will and a portrait of Justice Harihar Mohapatra was donated by Shri Anant Mohapatra to Centre for Judicial Archives/ Museum of Justice.
  3. Preservation: 1625 files(29,486 sheets) have been conserved during the period from 01.01.2024 to 31.12.2024. (Total number of files conserved till 31.12.2024 is 4132).
  4. Digitization: 50 fragile records (1105 sheets) have been digitized during the period from 01.01.2024 to 31.12.2024. (Total number of records digitized till 31.12.2024 is 1151)
  5. Translation into Odia of ‘Judicial History of Odisha, Vol I’. The Odia translation of above piece of works have been checked and vetted by the Centre.
  6. Sale of Judicial History of Odisha, Vol- 1: 211 books of ‘Judicial History of Odisha’, Vol 1 were sold in Odisha History Congress, Balijatra, Bhubaneswar book fair, Centre for Judicial Archives, Museum of Justice, ILR section and E-Sewa Kendra of High Court of Orissa.
  7. Judicial History of Odisha, Vol-II: Drafting of ‘Judicial history of Odisha, Vol II’ has been completed and approved by the RRDC Committee and Editorial Board of three historians nominated by the RRDC Committee, vetted the draft.
  8. Research and Collection of relevant materials:
  • The Consultants and Law Researchers visited Odisha State Archives in February, 2024 for collection of materials for Judicial History of Odisha, Vol – II.
  • Dr. Justice S.K. Panigrahi, Prof. Basanta Kumar Mallik, Consultant (History) and Rahul Vikram Pathy, Law Researcher (Law) also visited Tamil Nadu State Archives, Chennai March, 2024 for collection of materials. (approximately 103 old records and several rare books were collected)
  • Law Researchers collected relevant data from Abhilekh Patal website of National Archives of India and shared with the Director and Consultants for writing judicial history.
  • Several relevant judgments and statistical data were collected from British Library, London.

Important Events of Centre for Judicial Archives, High Court of Orissa

  1. Odisha History Congress:

The Centre for Judicial Archives became an institutional member of Odisha History Congress vide Membership No. IM-1/2023. In the 43rd Session of Odisha History Congress held from 20th January 2024 to 22nd January 2024, a special academic session was dedicated to various aspects of “Judicial History of Odisha” at Ravenshaw University, in which Dr. Lalatendu Das Mohapatra, Director-cum-OSD, Dr. Bijoy Chandra Mohapatra, Consultant (Law) and Prof. Basanta Kumar Mallik, Consultant (History) presented papers on different subjects and aspects of Judicial History of Odisha. The session was presided over by Prof. Sushmit Prasad Pani, Former Director, Distance Education, Utkal University.

  1. A drama titled “Saheed Lakhana Nayak”

A drama titled “Saheed Lakhana Nayak” by Centre for Judicial Archives was presented in the ceremony of 76th foundation day of the High Court of Orissa on 26th July 2024 at Odisha Judicial Academy, Cuttack. The drama was performed by the Orissa High court Cultural Society.  

  1. “Preserving the Legacy”, Pavilion at Balijatra, Cuttack

The Centre showcased their activities through audio visual and pictorial formats in the High Court pavilion in ‘ Balijatra fair, Cuttack on 15th-22nd November 2024. Seventy One (71) pieces of ‘ Judicial History of Odisha, Vol 1’ were sold.