Bhubaneswar: Union Law & Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal Tuesday said the demand for setting up a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court in the state’s western region has lost its importance after the introduction of e-court facilities.
E-courts will provide the same facilities to the people, which will be given by a permanent bench of the high court, Meghwal said on the sidelines of a function here.
Setting up a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court has been a long-standing demand of the lawyers in the state’s Western region. Lawyers have observed strikes several times in the past few years to press for the demand.
“As e-court facilities have progressed a lot, I think there is not much importance in setting up a permanent bench of a high court. This is because the people will get the same facilities through e-court as in the permanent bench of the high court,” he said.
The eCourts project provides an efficient and time-bound, litigant-centric, affordable, accessible, and accountable justice delivery system. The centralised portals for district courts, subordinate courts and high courts provide information about cases, orders and judgments to citizens.
Stating that along with the high court bench, the country has started the work for e-courts, Meghwal said that demand for a permanent bench does not hold much importance under the changed situation.
The union minister also said recommendations of the Chief Minister, Chief Justice of the respective state, and subsequently Chief Justice of India are needed for setting up a permanent bench of the high court.
Meghwal asserted that Odisha has been ahead of other states as far as the e-courts project is concerned.
Senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya said that the people of the western region have been making the demand for a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court for a long time.
“We hope that the Centre will fulfil the hopes and aspirants of scores of people of western Odisha,” he said.
Western Odisha comprises 10 districts – Bargarh, Bolangir, Boudh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Sambalpur, Subarnapur, Sundargarh and Athmallik sub-division of Angul district.
The Supreme Court in December 2022 observed that there was no justification for having a bench of the high court in view of the widespread use of technology in the functioning of courts.
PTI