Odisha courts are sitting on a massive backlog of more than 15 lakh cases while the rate of case disposal does not appear to be very encouraging.
As on October 31, the Orissa High Court had a backlog of 1.5 lakh cases whereas the lower judiciary was dealing with 14.1 lakh cases.
Law Minister Pratap Jena told the Assembly in a written reply that the Orissa HC had disposed of 63,236 cases in 2018 — a decline in the rate of disposal compared with the rates in 2017 and 2016.
In 2017, the HC had delivered a verdict in 74,798 cases, whereas 71,474 cases were disposed of in 2016. Of the 1,50,938 pending cases in the High Court, as many as 21,659 had been pending for 10 years or more. And 3,796 cases had been pending for more than two decades. “The HC is taking appropriate steps to reduce the backlog,” said Mr. Jena.
In the High Court, 14 judge positions are lying vacant, which is said to be the prime reason behind the high pendency of cases.
In the lower judiciary, the rate of case disposal has been decreasing while pending cases have touched 14.1 lakh. In 2018, only 2.5 lakh cases could be disposed of compared to 3.6 lakh in 2017 and 4.6 lakh in 2016.
As many as 25 district level judge positions are vacant in the lower judiciary. In the senior civil judge category, 34 posts are lying vacant and 89 posts do not have civil judges.
Despite the huge backlog, only two candidates among lawyers were found to be fit for recruitment as additional district judges this year.
