Cuttack: Orissa High Court Chief Justice Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar on Tuesday virtually inaugurated 57 Paperless Courts in Phase-III and 4 newly established Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) at Cuttack, Puri, Jajpur and Bhubaneswar to deal with cases under POCSO Act and Rape Cases.
Justice Subhasis Talapatra, Chief Justice-Designate and Chairperson, Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology Committee of the High Court of Orissa, Dr. Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, Judge, High Court of Orissa and Administrative Judge of Khurda and Puri Judgeships and the Judges of the High Court of Orissa were also present. District Judges and judicial officers of the state joined the event through virtual mode.
In the National Conference on Digitization, e-Initiatives and Paperless Courts held at Cuttack on 5th and 6th May, 2023, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Orissa had made a commitment to set up 100 paperless courts in the State within a period of three months, in addition to the 34 paperless courts existing by then. The commitment has been fulfilled with inauguration of 50 Paperless Courts on 3rd July and 57 paperless courts on 1st August, 2023. The number of paperless courts in the District Judiciary of the State has now reached 141.
Speaking in the inaugural function Dr. S. Muralidhar said 57 paperless courts in the third phase is yet another milestone crossed by the Odisha judiciary and this is a work in progress. He said, as preparatory to the paperless courts, digitization of pending as well as disposed of records in the districts has been taken up in the District Court Digitization Hubs and training has been imparted to judicial officers other stakeholders across the state by the master-trainer judicial officers and the technical team headed by the Central Project Coordinator. He complemented the master-trainer judicial officers in effective implementation of e-Initiatives in District Judiciary. He said the journey started in September, 2021 with inauguration of 34 paperless courts and Odisha has become the first State to have so many paperless courts in the district level. Calling paperless court a citizen centric measure the Chief Justice emphasized on the impact of paperless court on the reconfiguration of space and the whole architecture and atmosphere of the Courts.
The Chief Justice informed in his address that while Ganjam was the first district where all the Courts in its headquarters had become paperless, Khurda now became the second District to achieve the rare feat with all the courts at Bhubaneswar going paperless. He added, the High Court would be completely paperless in both administrative and judicial side very soon and it would be replicated in the districts. Speaking on the establishment of 4 new Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) the Chief Justice said it is a move to ensure timely justice to the rape victims and urged the retired judicial officers posted in these courts to work towards fulfilling the expectations of the litigants waiting in courts for justice.
Justice Subhasis Talapatra stressed upon the need of using technology for benefit of the poor. Justice Talapatra congratulated the judicial officers who have come forward to make their courts paperless. He said Odisha Judiciary has been using technology in the interest of the common citizens and this has been widely acknowledged. Dr. Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi said the vision and guidance of Dr. S. Muralidhar has made Odisha achieve this milestone of setting up so many paperless courts in district level. Both the Judges urged the judicial officers posted in the Fast Track Special Courts to rise to the occasion and fulfill the aspirations of litigant public.
