Despite agitation in Odisha, justice CR Pal supports high court benches

Bhubaneshwar, June 9: Justice CR Pal on Sunday said there was no harm in having benches in addition to the principal seat. Pal submitted his report on proposed high court (HC) benches in Odisha to the state government on May 31.

The government had appointed the single-member commission on March 11, 2008, to look into feasibility and desirability of HC benches outside its principal location in Cuttack.

"Recently Karnataka high court created two new benches. Madras HC, Madhya Pradesh HC and Bombay HC too have benches," Pal told a private TV channel, hinting at his support for new benches. He, however, did not elaborate on the content of his recommendation to the government.

He said HC benches can come up in district headquarters towns in accordance with principles and guidelines suggested by Justice Jaswant Singh Commission. He submitted the report to the government without waiting for detailed district-wise statistics of cases as the same would have taken him another two to three years to compile, though he considered pending cases till 2008, Pal added.

Demands for HC benches had led to massive lawyers' agitation in western and southern Odisha last year. Lawyers of 10 western Odisha district have formed a central action committee to press for an HC bench in the region.

OneIndia News