New Year Meet of the Bar & Bench

On 4th January, 2024, like the previous year, the High Court organized a friendly meet for the Bar and Bench on the occasion of New Year in front of the New Building of the High Court. Dr. Justice B.R. Sarangi, Acting 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, along with the Senior Advocates, the Law Officers for the State Government and the Union of India, as well as other departments. This initiative was made to foster a cordial relationship between the Bar and Bench, who are two sides of the same coin, and for better prospects of future endeavors.

On the occasion, the Acting Chief Justice, the Advocate General, the former Advocate General and other Senior Advocates had delivered speech sharing their experiences of the struggle in the legal profession and how they were able to reach the pinnacle of glory, which was a guiding force for the young practitioners who have chosen the legal profession as their careers.

Celebration of Republic Day

The 75th Republic Day was celebrated on 26th January, 2024 in the premises of the High Court of Orissa. Dr. B.R. Sarangi, Acting Chief Justice hoisted the National Flag. The event was attended by other companion judges of the Court, members of the Bar and staff of the Court. On the said occasion, the ambulance service of the High Court Dispensary was flagged off by the Acting Chief Justice as a token of dedication to the services of patients.

Visit of the Chief Justice of Nepal to the High Court of Orissa

The Chief Justice of Nepal, Shri Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha, along with his spouse, visited the High Court of Orissa on 02nd February, 2024 and he was felicitated with a memento and guard of honour. During his visit, he had a glance at the premises of the High Court and interacted with the Acting Chief Justice and other companion Judges of the Court.

Bench versus Bar Cricket Match

A friendly twenty20 cricket match between the Judges and members of the Bar was held on 16th March, 2024 in the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack. In the said match, the Chief Justice and other companion judges from the side of the bench and the senior and junior advocates led by the President of the Bar Association from the side of the Bar took part in the event. The match was won by the bench, with the winner’s trophy being presented by the President, Bar Association to the Chief Justice. The Man of the Match award was won by Justice S.K. Sahoo.

Visit of Justice Sanjay Karol, Judge, Supreme Court to the High Court

Justice Sanjay Karol, Judge, Supreme Court of India had visited the High Court of Orissa on 03rd March,2024. He was felicitated with a memento and guard of honour. During his visit, he had a glance at the premises of the High Court and interacted with the Chief Justice and other Companion Judges of the Court.

Celebration of Madhu Jayanti

The birth anniversary of Shri Madhusudan Das, also known as Lawyer’s Day, was celebrated on 28th April, 2024. On the said occasion, the Chief Justice, other companion judges and members of the Bar had garlanded the statue of Shri Madhusudan Das installed in the premises of the High Court

Yoga Day Celebration

The International Yoga Day was observed on 21st June, 2024 where the Chief Justice, other Companion Judges, officers of registry and other staff of the Court took part in the event held in the premises of the High Court.The invited yoga guru had taught various yoga asanas which have positive impacts in our day-to-day life and emphasized on the importance of yoga for good physical and mental health.

Celebration of High Court Foundation Day

On 26th July, 2024, the 77th Foundation the High Court of Orissa was celebrated. The Chief Justice and other companion Judges along with Bar members had participated in the event. To commemorate the event, a drama (on SAHEED LAKHAN NAIK) was staged by the staff of the Court at the Justice Gati Krushna Auditorium, OJA, Cuttack. The members of the team involved in preparation and staging of the drama were presented with Certificates of Appreciation by the Chief Justice. On the same day, the death anniversary of Justice Bira Kishore Ray, the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Orissa was also observed.

East Zone-I Regional Conference on Contemporary Judicial Developments and Strengthening Justice through Law and Technology

On 3rd & 4th August, the “East Zone-1 Regional Conference on Contemporary and Judicial Developments and Strengthening Justice through Law and Technology” was conducted by the High Court of Orissa at the Odisha Judicial Academy, Cuttack. Justice Surya Kanta, Judge, Supreme Court presided over the Conference as its Chief Guest. Justice Abhay S. Oka, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Judges, Supreme Court of India, Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh, Chief Justice and Companion Judges of High Court of Orissa, Justice Aniruddha Bose, former Judge of Supreme Court of India and Director, National Judicial Academy, Bhopal and Judges of other High Courts had participated in the programme. The nominated Judicial Officers from states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha had participated in the conference.

Felicitation of retired and retiring employees of the Court and handing over of keys of F-type quarters to Group-D employees of the High Court

A felicitation ceremony for the employees of the Court who had retired between January to August 2024 was held on 30th August, 2024 in the premises of the High Court. The Chief Justice and other Companion Judges graced the event and felicitated the retired and retiring employees. On the said occasion, keys of 18 F-Type quarters were handed over to the Group-D employees of the Court.

Participation of Judicial Officers from District Judiciary in the “National Conference of District Judiciary”, New Delhi

The National Conference of the District Judiciary was organized by the Supreme Court of India from 31st August to 1st September, 2024 at Convention Centre at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. 27 Judicial Officers from the state of Orissa having the cadre of District Judge, Civil Judge (Sr. Divn.) and Civil Judge (Jr. Divn.), nominated by the High Court, had physically participated in the conference. All other Judicial Officers of the state had also joined in the conference virtually.

State Level Consultation on Effective Implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act & POCSO Act with specific focus on children with disabilities

The Juvenile Justice Committee of High Court of Orissa and Odisha Judicial Academy in collaboration with Department of Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Department of Women and Child Development and UNICEF had organized a State Level Consultation on Juvenile Justice on 1st September, 2024 at Odisha Judicial Academy, Cuttack. The consultation was dedicated to explore the effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act and Protection of Children from sexual offences Act, with a specific focus on the rights of children with disabilities.

Observance of Gandhi Jayanti

The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was observed on 02nd October, 2024. The Chief Justice, other companion Judges of the Court and members of the Bar garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi installed in the premises of the High Court.

Inauguration of the High Court pavilion at the Baliyatra Ground, Cuttack

The historic Baliyatra Festival was held at Cuttack from 15th November, 2024 to 23rd November, 2024. In the said fair, the High Court opened a stall named as “High Court Pavilion” which was inaugurated by Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh, the Chief Justice in presence of companion Judges on 16th November, 2024. In the said pavilion various activities and citizen centric initiatives undertaken by the High Court and its allied organs such as O.J.A (Odisha Judicial Academy), OSLSA (Odisha state Legal Services Authority), RRDC (Record Room Digitization Centre) and Judicial Archives were portrayed for the awareness of the general public. The book viz. “The Judicial History of Odisha Volume-I” was also made available for the general public.

Observance of Constitution Day

Since the year, 2024 marked as the 75th year of the adoption of the constitution of India,on 26th November, 2024 all the officers of the Registry and the staff of the High Court observed the Constitution Day at the New Conference Hall of the Old Court building. In the said occasion, all the participants read out the “Preamble” of the Constitution of India to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India and to honour and pay tribute to the contribution of its founding fathers.

Release of Judicial Calendar

On 22nd December, 2024, for the fourth consecutive year, the High Court of Orissa released the Judicial Calendar of Odisha featuring paintings of school children in Justice Gati Krushna Auditorium of the Odisha Judicial Academy.

On 10th November, 2024 painting competitions were held among the school children of Class-VII to X across the State on the theme “Rights of Children with disabilities” 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 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, Justice V. Narasingh and Justice Gourishankar Satapathy. 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, the 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.

The High Court Cricket Carnival, 2024

The Orissa High Court Cricket Carnival 2024, held from 28th December, 2024 to 31st December, 2024, witnessed active participation from 17 teams, including 15 men’s and 2 women’s teams. The event was inaugurated by Justice K.R. Mohapatra and Justice Savitri Ratho. The league matches took place on 28th and 29th December, followed by the quarterfinals on 30th December, and the semi-finals and final matches on 31st December. In the women’s final, the Yellow Jaguars triumphed over the Pink Panthers, while in the men’s final, the Accounts Elite Warriors defeated List United. The closing ceremony was graced by Justice Sashikanta Mishra, Justice A.K. Mohapatra, Justice V. Narasingh, and Justice M.S. Raman.

Employees who retired in 2024

• Binaya Kumar Behera, Head Driver
• Badruddin Khan, Head Driver
• Gopinath Jena, Assistant Registrar (Judicial)
• Sanjaya Kumar Barik, Jamadar
• Prabodha Dash, Diarist
• Surya Narayan Parija, Additional Registrar (Establishment)
• Ranjit Kumar Mohanty, Assistant Registrar-cum- Stamp Reporter & Oath Commissioner
• Trilochan Guru, Assistant Registrar-cum-Additional Stamp Reporter & Oath Commissioner
• Gagan Bihari Sahoo, Duftary
• Sangyanshubala Bhuyan, Additional Registrar (Establishment)
• Amulya Behera, Cook-cum-Caretaker
• Pravas Kumar Mallik, Senior Garde Diarist
• Gyana Ranjan Das, Additional Deputy Registrar (J&E)
• Pradipta Kumar Pattanaik, Additional Deputy Registrar (J & E)
• Surendranath Patra, Duftary
• Onkar Nath Ghose, Assistant Registrar-cum-A.S.R. & O.C.

OBITUARY

Former Judges of the High Court of Orissa

Members of the High Court Bar Association

Judicial Officers of the State

Employees of the High Court