Odisha High Court Bar seeks CJI help in filling up vacancies of judges

Source: newindianexpress.com

CUTTACK: The Odisha High Court Bar Association (OHCBA) has urged Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi for expeditious steps to fill up the posts of judges in the high court that have been lying vacant for years.

A memorandum was submitted by OHCBA representatives including president Gopal Krushna Mohanty and secretary Sanjay Kumar Das during a meeting with CJI Gogoi at New Delhi on June 22.

The Bar has been demanding filling up of the vacancies of judges for years together. However, 13 posts are still lying vacant.

“The sanctioned strength of judges in the Odisha High Court is 27, but currently only 14 judges are there due to which the justice delivery system has come to a standstill in the state. Therefore, it is necessary that such vacancies in the bench should necessarily be filed up by elevating the regular practitioners of Odisha High Court.” the OHCBA contended in the memorandum.

Sources said CJI Gogoi, while giving ‘positive response’ asked the association to lift their boycott of the courts of judges of the collegium of Odisha High Court which recommends the names for appointment as judges of the high court.

Members of the Bar have not been attending the courts of Chief Justice KS Jhaveri, Justice Sanju Panda and Justice SK Mishra since June 17 opposing recommendation of lawyers who are not regular practitioners of the high court for appointment as judges.

The Bar had also raised the issue in the memorandum and sought CJI Gogoi’s intervention against recommendation of names of ‘some lawyers who have absolutely no practice in the Odisha High Court and stay outside of Odisha’ while alleging that in the process ‘brilliant and eligible lawyers’ and regular practitioners of Odisha High Court have been ignored.

Mohanty said the general body of the association will meet on June 26 to take a decision on the future course of the agitation.