HC Bench In Western, Southern Odisha: 'With No Response From State, Centre Cannot Proceed Further'

Bhubaneswar/ New Delhi: Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that it is difficult for the Centre to proceed without any communication from the Odisha government with regard to infrastructure facilities required to establish High Court benches in western and southern regions of the State.

The Union Minister informed this in response to a matter raised by BJD MP Prasanna Acharya during a discussion in Rajya Sabha earlier this year.

In his letter, Prasad said that the High Court Benches are established in accordance with the recommendations made by the Jaswant Singh Commission and judgment pronounced by the Apex Court in W.P.(C) No.379 of 2000 and after due consideration of a complete proposal from the State government and the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court along with the consent of the Governor of the concerned State.

"The Odisha government has requested for setting up of Orissa High Court Bench in Western and Southern region of Odisha. In this regard, the Central Government has requested the High Court of Orissa to provide its views which have not been received. The Central Government has also apprised Odisha government on various occasions, but, the Centre has not received any communication from the state government about its readiness of infrastructure facilities required for setting up of High Court Bench," Prasad mentioned.

In view of the above, it is not possible for the government to further proceed in this direction, Prasad said.

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