DISTRICT JUDGES’ CONFERENCE, 2023

Improved Case Disposal

11 February 2023(Odisha Tazanews) BBSR :- Disposal of cases by High Court increased by over 29.86% compared to 2021. 1,36,599 cases were disposed in 2022 at a Case Clearance Rate (CCR) of 130.94% as compared to 1,05,182 cases in 2021. Similarly, disposal of cases by District Judiciary increased by over 116.02% compared to 2021. The District Courts disposed of 5,15,392 cases at a Case Clearance Rate (CCR) of 93.20% compared to 2,38,588 cases in 2021.

2. Increase in delivery of judgments

2,118 judgments were delivered by the High Court in 2022 compared to 810 in 2021. 1,61,263 judgments were delivered by the District Courts in 2022 compared to 72,806 in 2021.

3. Highest working strength in High Court

In the beginning of 2022, the working strength of the High Court was 18. It rose to an all time high i.e. 24 in the month of August and remained 22 at the end of the year.  While 1 Judge was transferred and 2 Judges retired, 7 Judges were sworn in during the year. The sanctioned strength also increased during the year from 27 to 33.

4. Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres in every one of the 30 Districts

The Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres (VWDCs) serve the primary purpose of enabling the witnesses in trials to depose without any fear or intimidation. A VWDC comprises three rooms : a Virtual Court Room with electronic devices and cameras, including a screened chamber for the accused, a separate witness waiting room and a witness deposition room from where the witness can speak without having to physically face the accused. VWDCs in 2 districts had been inaugurated in 2021. The judgment of Supreme Court of India in Smruti Tukaram Badade Vrs. State of Maharashtra (2022) SCC Online SC 78 came on 11^th January, 2022. Thereafter, VWDCs were inaugurated in 13 districts on 2^nd April, 2022 and in remaining districts on 14^th May, 2022. Presently, there are VWDCs in every district of Odisha.

5. Establishment of 34 Paperless Courts in the districts

On 17^th September, 2022 the Chief Justice of India, Justice U.U. Lalit inaugurated 34 Paperless Courts in the District Courts of Odisha. Odisha is perhaps the first State in the Country where there are Paperless Courts in all the districts. The aim is to increase the number progressively so that every Court in Odisha is enabled to became paperless by the end of 2023.

6. Establishment of 10 District Court Digitization Hubs

In 2021, 4 District Court Digitization Centres (DCDCs) had been established at Cuttack, Sambalpur, Ganjam and Balasore. Following on the experience of the 4 DCDCs it was decided to expand the activities of digitization of District Court records. In 2022, the existing DCDCs were converted into District Court Digitization Hubs (DCDHs) and instead of opening of separate DCDC in each of the remaining district, DCDHs were opened in 10 locations namely, Angul, Bhadrak, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh and Sonepur which cover the respective neighboring districts. The DCDHs were inaugurated on 12^th December, 2022 by the Chief Justice of India, Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.

7. Implementation of case load rationalization across the District Courts

Due to uneven distribution of cases across the state, some courts were overburdened with work, while some others had less work. This resulted in under-utilization of the available judicial resources. Pursuant to the discussion in the District Judges’ Conference, 2022, the District Judges were instructed to adopt rationalization of cases among the different courts so as to ensure their even distribution. A total number of 3,24,900 cases were transferred to different trial courts. This resulted in striking a balance in regard to pendency of cases among all courts. Due to heavy burden on the existing cognizance-taking courts, 25 new cognizance-taking courts were inaugurated across the State on 21^st November, 2022.

8. Scheme for Best Performance Districts introduced

The High Court formulated a scheme to assess the performance of the District Courts and discern the best performing districts across the state classified into three categories i.e. Judgeships with more than 30 officers (Zone-A), Judgeships between 20 to 30 officers (Zone-B) and Judgeships with less than 20 officers (Zone-C). The evaluation was done on the basis of the information received from the District Judges, the reports of the concerned Administrative Judges and the Registry of the High Court with regard to the performance of the District Courts on various aspects like their judicial work, administrative capabilities and infrastructural management. On completion of the exercise Bolangir, Nayagarh and Deogarh were found to be the Best Performing Districts in Zone ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ respectively.

9. Launch of Judicial History Project and the Centre for Judicial Archives

• The old case records of the High Court of Orissa include judicial records of three other High Courts: at Calcutta, Patna and Madras and the erstwhile High Courts of the princely states. There are records which date back to 19^th Such records provide valuable insights into the functioning of the judiciary during those times and contain the treasure-trove of historical information.

• Judicial History of Odisha will be documented by making the records available to the researchers and scholars. However, the records require preservation by the latest scientific techniques before research. Simultaneously, revamping of the museum of the High Court in Cuttack was mooted for showcasing the heritage and history of the judiciary in Odisha.

• The Chief Justice wrote to the Chief Minister on 25^th March, 2022 for support of the State Government in establishment of a Centre for Judicial Archives, revamping of the Museum of Justice and financial, infrastructural and personnel support for the judicial history project in general. The Chief Minister by letter dated 2^nd April, 2022 assured support of the State Government in the project.

• By a Notification No. 14380 dated 1^st May, 2022 of Home Department, Government of Odisha, the Centre for Judicial Archives of Odisha was set up. The Centre has undertaken –

• Cataloguing and archiving the fragile records of the High Court till 1950

• Scientific preservation, up keeping, cataloguing and digitization of those fragile records

• Facilitating consultation of those records to the bona fide scholars by creating proper logistics and infra structure

• Compilation of Judicial History of Odisha

• Supervision and upgradation of Museum of Justice

• Overseeing and advising the District Courts on archival of fragile records.

• The old fragile records are being preserved by scientific method by experts in conservation work and after preservation the records are being digitized. Most of such records contain Persian manuscripts which are proposed to be translated by a Persian scholar. So far 9,537 records have been catalogued, 768 records preserved and 201 records consisting of 3,755 sheets have been digitized.

10. Provision of SCC Online to all the Judicial Officers of the State

• On 21^st February, 2022, every one of the 782 Judicial Officers in Odisha was provided of the SCC Online facility. This gives them access to the various judgments of the Tribunals, High Courts and Supreme Court of India as well as statutes, bills in parliament and articles.

• On 13^th May, 2022, an online web platform called the Case Law Portal (CLP) was launched for enabling Judicial Officers to share and read case law summaries and commentaries. CLPs have been made accessible at an IP address. Access is permitted only to Judicial Officers who are assigned unique login credentials.

• The SCC Online facility provided to Judicial Officers enables accessing and reading any case law for the above purpose. Judicial Officers have been encouraged to form study circles to share the knowledge gleaned from accessing these facilities.

11. Setting up of Judicial Infrastructure Management Agency (JIMA), the first of its kind in the country

• Adequate and quality infrastructure has direct impact on administration of justice. The physical infrastructure such as the buildings of the court complexes and residential quarters of Judges and staff form an important component of the judicial infrastructure. A dedicated technical agency viz., Judicial Infrastructure Management Agency (JIMA), the first of its kind in the country, was established by the Government of Odisha in consultation with the High Court of Orissa for effective management of judicial infrastructure. It was inaugurated on 12^th October, 2022 in the premises of the office of Chief Construction Engineer, Cuttack R & B Circle at Cantonment Road, Cuttack.

• The idea of separate entity to deal with judicial infrastructure was mooted in the conference of Chief Justices held in April, 2022 in New Delhi. JIMA could be seen as a response by the Government of Odisha at the state level to this need. The function of JIMA is to exclusively manage the construction and maintenance of all the judicial infrastructure of the State. JIMA, comprising Engineers and Architects, acts as the Nodal Agency in the matter of monitoring physical and financial status of the infrastructure projects of the State Judiciary. It looks after the project preparation, drawing and design, architecture, procurement, award of contracts, engineering supervision for new projects and also takes care of maintenance and renovation of the existing projects and the annual maintenance contracts.

12. Opening of e-Libraries for the lawyers in each of the 30 districts and 2 outlying stations

• In a first of its kind initiative, the High Court of Orissa decided to provide e-Library facilities to the lawyers practicing in the 30 District Courts and 2 outlying stations of Koraput and Rourkela. This involves setting up of the e-Library rooms with 2 personal computers and with network connectivity, free subscriptions of All India Reporter (AIR), Manupatra for one year and providing an updatable CD ROM of the Orissa Law Time (OLT). A set of instructions have been drawn up for operation of the e-Libraries. This facility was inaugurated on 22^nd March, 2022 by the Chief Justice in the presence of the Judges of the High Court in virtual mode.

13. “Lawyer of the Year Award” introduced for District Court lawyers in the age group of 30-40

The lawyers in the age group of 30-40 in each district (including the outlying stations in the district) of the state were selected on the basis of their work for the entire calendar year of 2021 evaluated by the jury consisting of the District Judge, the Chief Judicial Magistrate and 3 Senior Members of the Bar from the respective districts having experience of 20 years or more. The criteria for selection were the number of cases handled (at least one civil or criminal trial) by the lawyer independently during a year and the number of judgments and final orders in contested cases handled independently. The recommendations of the jury in each district were placed before the Committee of Judges of the High Court. One lawyer each from 22 districts was found suitable for the ‘Lawyer of the year award 2021’. On the Foundation Day of the High Court on 26^th July, 2022, the award, comprising a certificate, a memento, and a collection of books worth Rs.10,000/- presented to the selected 22 lawyers.  

14. Felicitation of High Court employees completing 25 years

Welfare of the employees and acknowledgement of their contribution to the institution is important. On 1^st February, 2022, the High Court of Orissa initiated the move of felicitating its employees who have completed service of 25 years and above. 169 employees of the High Court having completed service of 25 years and above in various cadres were felicitated by the Chief Justice and the Judges in a function held in Odisha Judicial Academy. Thereafter, 10 more employees were felicitated in 2022 for completion of 25 years of service. Besides, 30 employees have been felicitated during the year on their retirement.