Fill up vacant HC judges' posts: Odisha to Centre

Expressing concern over the pendency of cases in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday urged the central government to fill up the vacant eight posts of judges in the Orissa High Court as soon as possible.

Attending a joint conference of chief ministers and chief justices of high courts in New Delhi, Patnaik said that despite non-receipt of central assistance since 2014, Odisha has been making every possible effort to strengthen the court infrastructure.

He asked the union government to supplement the efforts of the state by providing additional resources for creating court infrastructure, residential buildings and other amenities.

The chief minister, in a written speech circulated at the conference, said that recognising the importance of timely delivery of justice to common citizens, Odisha has made substantial progress on important decisions taken during the last conference on April 5, 2015.

He said 30 courts of judicial magistrate first class have been established for ensuring speedy trial of offences against women in the state.

"Further, 26 additional courts of judicial magistrate first class have been set up in remote and topographically challenging districts. Odisha has established Gramya Nyayalayas in remote areas of the state to cater to the rural population," he said.

He said the Orissa High Court has been strengthened with the construction of a litigant friendly modern court complex.

The state has also set up the Odisha Judicial Academy for imparting quality training and capacity building of judicial officers.

In addition, a state level mediation centre and 21 district level mediation centres have been operationalised for early disposal of cases in the state, he added.

Patnaik said construction work of 17 district court buildings covering all newly created districts and a major judicial complex at Bhubaneswar to accommodate all the courts under a single roof at a cost of about Rs.200 crore were currently in progress.

The state proposes to establish 29 new courts including four family courts, Lok Adalats, legal literacy camps and legal assistance cells in every gram panchayat, he added.

He said Odisha has agreed to bear all recurring expenses required to implement e-court projects beyond the period supported by the central government and to support digitisation of records of the Orissa High Court.

--IANS

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