Orissa High Court backlog up by 12 per cent during Covid pandemic

CUTTACK: The backlog of cases in Orissa High Court has gone up by 19,158 cases since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in March last year with a disposal rate of nearly 73 per cent. Official records indicate that around 92,012 cases were filed since March 24, 2020, when the number of pending cases stood at 1, 56,532. But the number of such on May 23, 2021 was 1,75,690, registering a 12.23 per cent rise in case backlog during this period. 

Despite restrictions in place, the High Court disposed of 67,515 cases by virtual mode since the pandemic started. Over 76,336 cases which are more than five years old are pending in the High Court and these constitute 43.44 per cent of the total backlog. Of the total 1,75,690 cases pending in the High Court, 1,22,264 are civil cases while the rest are criminal cases. Of them, around 75,012 are in the category of writ petitions which are filed under Article 226 when fundamental rights are violated.Criminal cases involve appeals against lower court orders on cases that involve an action that is harmful to society. Similarly, civil cases involve appeals against lower court orders related to private disputes between persons and organisations.

According to the latest statistics available from the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) by May 23, a total of 18.28 per cent or 32,120 cases have been pending for more than 19  years in the Orissa High Court. Of the 32,120 cases pending for more than a decade, 5,216 cases have been pending for more than 20 years and 833 for more than 30 years.The NJDG data on the High Court revealed that last month 8,506 cases were instituted whereas 6,235 were disposed of during the month.