BHUBANESWAR:Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday once again urged the Centre to establish High Court (HC) benches in Western and Southern Odisha.In a letter to Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad, the CM stated that there is a persistent demand from the people of these regions for setting up permanent benches of Orissa HC to mitigate inconvenience faced by the litigants.
Naveen said though he had assured the Centre that the State Government will provide adequate resources for establishment of the HC benches in both the regions, the views of the High Court on the matter have not been materialised so far.
The CM further said it is learnt from the response received from the Law Ministry in 2015 that Orissa HC is tied-up with the process of examination of statistics regarding number of cases originating from various regions.
The State Government is aware of various decisions of the Supreme Court including the case of Federation of Bar Associations of Karnataka vs Union of India and others as well as the recommendation of the Commission headed by Justice Jaswant Singh for establishment of HC bench away from its principal seat, the letter said.
“There is adequate justification for establishment of permanent benches of HC in the western and southern parts of Odisha and the criteria laid down by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission are also substantially met. The Parliament has the prerogative to establish such benches in exercise of its power under Entry-78 of the Union list,” Naveen said.
The CM urged Prasad to take an early decision on setting up permanent benches of HC in both the regions.
Naveen’s letter comes nearly a month after Union Minister of State for Law and Justice PP Choudhary informed the Rajya Sabha that setting up a bench of Orissa HC can be initiated by the Central Government only on receipt of all the requisite approvals from the State constitutional authorities and the High Court.
Replying to a question by BJD Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya, Choudhary had claimed that the Centre had not received a complete proposal in this regard. The CM, in his letter, reminded the Centre that two missives were sent on September 28, 2013 and February 13, 2014 with proposals for setting up the HC benches.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Sambalpur Bar Association intensified protests and paralysed functioning of judicial courts demanding establishment of a HC bench in Western Odisha.