PIL: Table panel report on Odisha HC bench in House

CUTTACK: A PIL filed in Orissa high court has sought direction to the state government to place the Justice C R Pal Commission report on setting up of high court benches, before the assembly without delay.
The PIL assumes significance as the report has been gathering dust for nearly five years and eight months as the government is yet to table it in the assembly. According to Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, a report must be placed in the assembly along with government’s action-taken report, within six months of the commission submitting it.
High court lawyer Shivsankar Mohanty filed the PIL petition on Tuesday.According to the petition, the government had set up a judicial commission, headed by Justice (retired) C R Pal on March 11, 2008, to study the feasibility of setting up high court benches other than the principal bench in Cuttack. The panel took more than six years to submit the report. In all these years the government spent Rs 1.52 crore on the commission. It was submitted on May 31, 2014, said the petition.
In his petition, Mohanty said the inordinate delay is significant given that there has been growing clamour for high court benches in different parts of the state, resulting in agitations by lawyers.
Mohanty said he had on August 30, 2019, submitted a representation to the state law department’s principal secretary to take immediate steps to place the commission report before the legislature. But the law department passed on the representation to the state home department on October 1, 2019 “to take necessary action as the matter relates to their (home) department”.
In a related development, the high court had over a month ago admitted a PIL challenging the legal validity of the panel formed by the state government for consideration of permanent high court bench at places other than the principal seat in Cuttack while keeping the commission report under the carpet.
The state home department had first constituted the committee on March 8, 2019, for consideration of various aspects for establishment of permanent bench of Orissa high court in western and southern regions of the state.
The five-member committee was constituted with additional chief secretary in home department as chairman. On August 28, 2019, another member was added to the panel.