BHUBANESWAR: Even as the demand for setting up of permanent bench of the Orissa High Court in Western and Southern regions of Odisha remains unfulfilled, the State Government has reconstituted the committee formed by it in March this year to consider all aspects of the issue.
As per a notification issued by the Home department, the Development Commissioner will head the six-member committee while Special Secretary, Home in charge of the High Court will be its convenor. The committee comprises Secretaries in Home, Finance, Revenue and Law departments as members.
A Home department notification said, “In partial modification of the Department Notification No 10783 dated 8th March, 2018, the Committee constituted for consideration of various aspects for establishment of Permanent Bench of Orissa High Court in Western & Southern regions of the State other than the Principal Seat is hereby reconstituted.”
The State Government had constituted the committee after agitation by members of Sambalpur District Bar Association over demand for a permanent bench of the High Court, which reached 187 days in March this year crippling the judicial process in the area. Subsequently, the committee headed by the Additional Chief Secretary in Home department was constituted to consult with the Union Law Ministry and Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court.
Lawyers of Sambalpur, who have been demanding a bench in Western Odisha, had met Chief minister Naveen Patnaik and requested him to make budget provision and form a committee to negotiate with the Union Law Ministry. The State Government had made a provision of `5 crore in this regard in the 2019-20 Budget.
The lawyers of Southern Odisha had also intensified their demand for establishment of a bench of the High Court in the region during the period.
In a letter to the then Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in January this year, the Chief Minister had requested the Centre to take a call on the issue of establishment of benches of the High Court in Western and Southern Odisha regions in view of the unrelenting agitation by people.