After 75 Verdicts In A Day; Orissa HC Creates Another History, Delivers Judgment In Odia

Cuttack: On the eve of its 75 years of establishment, the Orissa High Court here on Tuesday took a landmark step and pronounced a verdict in Odia.

A single bench of Justice Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi delivered the 41-page verdict in Odia in a writ petition, which the court had heard on July 19 and reserved its verdict. The verdict was pronounced in the regional language for easy understanding of the people made parties in the case, sources said.

In January, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud had emphasised on the translation of judgements in regional languages, which will help in the access to justice for the citizens. While remarking that English is “not a comprehensible language to 99.99% of the citizens” in the country, he had also informed that judgments delivered by the Supreme Court will now be translated into four languages —Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati and Odia.

Notably, the Orissa HC is celebrating its platinum jubilee and President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to grace the valedictory ceremony of the 75th year celebration on Wednesday. She will address judges and advocates at Jawaharlal Indoor Stadium. The President will also visit the Museum of Justice in Cuttack, which provides an insight into the history of the Indian legal system. Later in the day, Chief Justice S Muralidhar will host a lunch for her at the judges’ lounge, sources said.

Also Read: 75 Years Of Orissa High Court; Know How It All Began With Circuit Bench At Cuttack

In a record of sorts and a fitting tribute to its 75 years of glorious journey, a division bench of the court had delivered judgments in equal number of criminal appeals, mostly related to murder cases, in a single day on Monday. The division bench, comprising Justices Debabrata Dash and Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi, started functioning from 10.30 am through a hybrid arrangement, in which the parties appeared both in virtual as well as physical mode, and went on a marathon delivery of judgments in 75 criminal appeals pending for the last seven years.

The packed courtroom broke into thunderous applause when verdicts of all the listed 75 cases were delivered by the evening.