Orissa HC pronounces verdict in Odia to mark 75 years of establishment
On the eve of its 75th anniversary, the Orissa High Court here took a historic step by issuing a verdict in Odia.
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Cuttack: On the eve of its 75th anniversary, the Orissa High Court here took a historic step by issuing a verdict in Odia.
The 41-page verdict was delivered in Odia by a single bench of Justice Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi in a writ petition that the court had heard on July 19 and reserved its verdict. According to sources, the verdict was delivered in the regional language so that the people named as parties in the case could understand it.
In January, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud emphasized the importance of translating judgments into regional languages to improve citizens' access to justice.
While stating that English is "not a comprehensible language to 99.99% of the citizens" in the country, he also stated that Supreme Court decisions will now be translated into four languages: Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, and Odia.
Notably, the Orissa High Court is celebrating its platinum jubilee, and President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to attend the 75th year celebration's valedictory ceremony on Wednesday. At Jawaharlal Indoor Stadium, she will address judges and advocates. The President will also visit the Museum of Justice in Cuttack, which provides an overview of the Indian legal system's history. According to sources, Chief Justice S Muralidhar will host a lunch for her later in the day in the judges' lounge.
On Monday, a division bench of the court delivered judgments in an equal number of criminal appeals, mostly related to murder cases, setting a record and paying homage to the court's 75th anniversary. The division bench, comprised of Justices Debabrata Dash and Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi, began working at 10.30 a.m. through a hybrid arrangement in which the parties appeared both virtually and physically, and went on a marathon delivery of judgments in 75 criminal appeals pending for the last seven years.
When the verdicts in all 75 of the listed cases were delivered that evening, the packed courtroom erupted in thunderous applause.
