Thirty four new courts to come up in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: A committee led by finance minister Niranjan Pujari has given its nod to establish 34 new courts—16 civil, 10 commercial and eight sessions courts—in the state, law minister Pratap Jena said here on Monday. Jena said the new courts will help reduce pendency and take the justice delivery system closer to people.
Odisha currently has more than 700 subordinate courts. According to a reply given by Union law minister Kiren Rijiju in Lok Sabha on March 25, total 15.45 lakh cases are pending cases in lower courts in Odisha. They include 12.38 lakh criminal cases and 3.07 lakh civil cases. Similarly, 1.89 lakh cases are pending in the Orissa high court, the HC’s pendency report as on April 29 on its website shows.
Jena said it has been government’s constant endeavour to make justice delivery accessible to people. The government has been working on new courts and better infrastructure on a priority basis, he said.
The Pujari-led committee, which has the law minister and secretaries and finance and law departments as its member, has okayed the HC’s proposal for establishment of two additional district and sessions courts in Bhubaneswar, two in Balasore district at Soro and Jaleswar, one each in Koraput (district headquarters), Gajapati (R Udaygiri), Chandikhole (Jajpur), besides a special judge (vigilance) court in Paralakhemundi.
Two commercial courts will come up in Puri besides one each in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Balasore, Balangir, Kendrapada, Jeypore and Rourkela. One commercial court will be a Leave Reserve court to hear cases in case of any commercial court judge on leave.
The law department has asked the registrar of the Orissa high court for staff pattern and revised cost estimates for establishment of the different courts. As per the current estimate, the government would spend Rs 21.26 crore on infrastructure.
Jena said after the HC’s final approval, the courts will be established in phases.