Summary:
Cuttack, Jun 11 (PTI) The Orissa HC is probably the first High Court in the country to undertake a review of its performance in 2021 to make the judiciary more accountable and goal-oriented.
The Orissa High Court recently released the Annual Report, 2021, listing its challenges, main judgement and the problem of docket explosion, aiming to bring transparency and accountability to the system.
“The year 2021 was, in more ways than one, a year of transformation for the High Court as well as district judiciary.
Technology was used to make the judicial process more transparent and accessible to litigants,” a senior judicial officer of Orissa High Court told PTI on the annual report and its significance.
The COVID-19 pandemic situation had changed the style of functioning of the courts in Odisha which has been elaborately placed in the report.
In a chapter titled “Introspection and Challenges,” the report mentioned that “….
Substantial progress has been made in many fields, yet there are certain areas where the performance of the judiciary in Odisha appears to have fallen short of expectation.” Undoubtedly, the great challenge to the judiciary is the docket explosion, which is an increase in the pendency of cases, the report said.
“While the increase in the institution of cases reflects people’s faith in the judiciary, it also poses challenges,” the report said.
At the beginning of 2021, the High Court had a pendency of 1,73,510 cases.
In the year, 1,28,943 cases were instituted and 1,05,334 cases were disposed of.
At the end of the year, the pendency rose to 1,97,119, the report said.
Following the abolition of the Odisha Administrative Tribunal (OAT), around 40,000 cases pending before the OAT were transferred to the High Court, adding to the pendency.
This apart, all service-related cases that were earlier being filed in the OAT, are now being filed in the High Court.
The long pendency of cases has also been a feature of the District Courts, the report said.
On its performance during 2021, the report said at the beginning of the year, there were 305 cases pending for 40 years.