Orissa High Court registers over 126 per cent case clearance rate in first half of 2023

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], July 14 : The Orissa High Court recorded Case Clearance Rate (CCR) at 126.66 per cent, disposing of 62,869 cases against institutions and 49,635 cases in the first half of the year between January 2023 to June 23, according to an official statement.  

The disposal in the months of May and June of 2023 dropped as the high court was on summer recess and only the vacation courts were functioning during the period.

However, excluding these two months of vacation, the case clearance rate from January to April, this year, has been 141.71%. On comparison of the statistics of the first halves of 2022 and 2023, it was seen that 3,019 more cases were disposed of in the first half of 2023 with a net 14.66% improvement in case clearance rate, read the official statement.

It could further be seen from the statistics that the rate of increase in disposal in 2021 in comparison to that of 2020 had been 42.58%, the rate of increase in disposal in 2022 in comparison to that of 2021 was 52.44% and the rate of increase in disposal in 2023 in comparison to that of 2022 has been 5.04%. 

The number of judgments delivered by the high court in the first halves of 2021, 2022 and 2023 has also steadily grown every year. While 1,368 judgments have been delivered in the first half of 2023, the number of judgments delivered in 2021 and 2022 were 341 and 982 respectively, informed the official statement. 

The half-yearly statistics of the high court for the first half of 2023 have been encouraging due to substantial increase in disposal as well as case clearance rates. This has resulted in a steep decline in the pendency of cases, which has come down to 1,46,582 as of June 30, 2023 from 1,89,847 cases on June 30, 2022. 

The steady improvement in performance of the high court can be attributed to various factors such as the increase in number of Judges, the e-initiatives of recent years and more particularly, considerable reduction in loss of working hours, the statement added. 

Abstention from court work by Bar, reference on demise of Judges and lawyers and leaves of Judges have been the major factors contributing to loss of judicial hours in yesteryears. However, after the orders dated December 12, 2022 and December 14, 2022 of Supreme Court in TP(C) No. 2419 of 2019 (M/s. PLR Projects Pvt. Ltd. v. Mahanadi Coal Fields and others), the scenario has changed. Since January, this year, there has been no abstention from work by the Bar and a considerable decline in loss of judicial hours due to references to the demise of Judges and lawyers. Resultantly, the total loss of judicial hours in the high court in the first half of 2023 came down to 913.6 from 1395.65 in the first half of 2021 and 1559.15 in the first half of 2022, added the official statement. 

The disposal by District Judiciary has also steadily grown every year and it has been the highest in the first half of 2023, it noted.

While 2,32,363 cases have been instituted and 2,02,210 cases have been disposed of in the first half of 2023 at a case clearance rate of 87.02%, 2,35,620 cases were instituted and 1,55,712 cases disposed of at a case clearance rate of 66.09% in the first half of 2022 and, 1,89,315 cases had been instituted and 90,238 cases disposed of at a case clearance rate of 47.67% in the first half of 2021, the statement read further.