‘Centre For Judicial Archives’: Odisha’s Judicial Data Repository Celebrates First Anniversary

The first anniversary of establishment of the Centre for Judicial Archives (CJA) was celebrated on Wednesday under the aegis of the Orissa High Court at the Odisha Judicial Academy, Cuttack. Dr. Prabhu Prasad Mohapatra, Professor of History, Delhi University was the Chief Guest of the function. Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice and the Judges of the High Court of Orissa were present.

Website For The CJA

A website of the CJA was launched and a Booklet on the activities of the Centre was released on the occasion. Delivering the welcome address Justice Debabrata Dash, Chairman of the RRDC Committee presented the background of creation of the CJA and said that the role of Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar was central to it. He described the Centre as first of its kind in the country.

Documenting Judicial History Of Odisha

Dr. Lalatendu Das Mohapatra, Director-cum-Officer on Special Duty, CJA said that there has been no conscious effort by any other Court in India for archiving the court records as been by the Orissa High Court. He expressed pleasure that the CJA has created new milestones by acquiring 63,807 records from different districts of Odisha some of which are about 200 years old having survived the test of time.

Those records are being scientifically preserved in the Centre for the posterity and so far, 14,344 records have been provisionally catalogued as the prelude to the preparation of descriptive catalogues, he added. Dr. Das Mohapatra informed that the records are in various languages such as Persian, Telugu, Odia, English and Bengali which will be translated by scholars are in fact translation of the Persian records has already begun.

It was further informed by him that the Centre has undertaken an ambitious project of compiling the Judicial History of Odisha in two volumes for which two senior research consultants – one in history and another in law have been engaged.

He expressed hope that the Centre would be an academic forum for integrated research in history, law, justice, archival and heritage management where seminars and symposia will be held in collaborations with different academic institutions.

CJA: The ‘Little Konark’ Of Odisha Judiciary

Delivering the keynote address Dr. Prabhu Prasad Mohapatra, Professor of History, Delhi University said that judicial records are window to the social history of the country and some of the best histories in the world have been written using the judicial records.

Giving examples of the historical works like ‘The Making of the English Working Class’ by Edward Thompson and ‘The London Hanged’ by Peter Linebaugh which have been written using such records, Prof. Mohapatra said there has been hardly in study of judicial records in India. He said these pioneers have shown the path to study such areas which are not illumined by great events but daily lives of workers.

Drawing parallel between ‘archives’ and ‘memory’ Dr. Mohapatra said archives is to society but memory is to human beings. Highlighting the importance of proper selection in development of archives Prof. Mohapatra said that archive is produced through weeding out of unnecessary things just like memory is produced through selective forgetting.

He further said, Judges and Historians dwell on a common ground as both seek truth through examination and verification, the point of divergence being - the Judges have the burden to find the absolute truth whereas historians are pleased with plausible truth.

While underlining the importance of archives Prof. Mohapatra lamented the absence of records relating to oppression of marginalized groups from history. Referring to the master-servant law prevailing from 17th to 19th centuries, he said that it, being an asymmetric law treating the masters and servants differently, became a tool of administration of labourers and workers as it was used to ensure systematic absence of records through state power.

He said that even today 93% of the workers in India are undocumented and their cases of harassment can be conveniently hidden. Lauding the efforts in creation of the Centre for Judicial Archives, Prof. Mohapatra termed the Centre as the ‘little Konark’ of Odisha.

Hope For Disinterring True History

Chief Justice Dr. S. Muralidhar said judicial repository is an invaluable resource for the historians and a seed in the form of the Centre for Judicial Archives has been planted which is to be nurtured by the researchers and students for the benefit of the society. Responding to the remarks of Prof. Mohapatra, Justice Muralidhar said in a lighter vein that like historians, absolute truth eludes even the judges in most of the cases.

He said records from some districts have been brought to the Centre and once its own building comes up, all the records prior to 1950 from the District Courts will be brought and it would be exciting to study the practice and procedures followed in the times prior to the codified laws.

Referring to the remarks of Prof. Mohapatra regarding the master-servants law, Justice Muralidhar expressed hope that probably some historians, with the help of these records, would find out the persons who have been deliberately kept out.

Highlighting the importance of documentation of judicial history, Justice Muralidhar said that National Judicial History Project, if undertaken, will immensely benefit the entire country. He thanked the British Library for sharing about 10,000 historical documents with the Centre for Judicial Archives and also the State Government for its support in setting up the Centre.

Conception Of The Idea Of CJA & Its Establishment

With the establishment of Record Room Digitization Centre (RRDC) in 2021 very old records, some of them even dating back to the early 19th century were discovered, the oldest one being of the year 1808.

These records contain information on the functioning of the erstwhile judicial system. This led to conception of an idea of having a project for documenting the Judicial History of Odisha. Possibility of making the records available to the researchers and scholars was thought of.

However, the records required careful physical handling and treatment using the latest scientific techniques before the information was properly identified, collated, preserved and made accessible for research. Simultaneously, revamping of the museum of the High Court in Cuttack was mooted for showcasing the heritage and history of the judiciary in Odisha.

In March, 2022 Chief Justice Muralidhar put forth a proposal before Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for support of the State Government in establishment of a Centre for Judicial Archives and financial, infrastructural and personnel support for the judicial history project.

The Chief Minister promptly responded assuring every support of the State Government to the project and the Centre for Judicial Archives came into existence within a month by a Notification dated May 1, 2022 of the Home Department, Government of Odisha. Since then, the Centre has been functioning in the RRDC building. Earlier this year, the Chief Minister of Odisha laid the foundation stone of a separate dedicated building for the CJA, which is to be completed within a year.

The Centre is headed by the Director-cum-OSD who is assisted by experts from the field of law and history, working as consultants for the research work to be conducted by group of researchers.

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