Orissa High Court Extends Interim Orders Passed By It & Courts Subordinate To It Till January 15

Notably, on 05^th May, the High Court had extended the validity of all its interim orders in the wake of the spread of COVID-19.

Subsequently, the 05^th May order was extended from time to time subsequently on 11.06.2020 till 15.07.2020; thereafter on 15.07.2020 till 31.08.2020; on 31.8.2020 up to 15.10.2020; and the said protections were extended on 16.10.2020 till today i.e. 25.11.2020.

Further, filing of written-statements has been deferred, unless specifically directed, till 15^th January 2021.

The directions have been passed to ensure that the litigants and citizens do not suffer on account of their inability to "approach the court of law".

The order draws strength from the plenary power of the Court under Article 226 of the Constitution, power of superintendence under Article 227 of the Constitution, inherent power over criminal matters under Section 482 of CrPC, power of superintendence over criminal courts under Section 483 CrPC and inherent power over civil matters under Section 151 of CPC.

As per the order,

• All interim orders/directions issued or protection granted including any order requiring any compliance by the parties to such proceedings, passed by this Court or any court subordinate to it or any Family Court or Labour Court or any Tribunal or any other Judicial or Quasi-Judicial forum in the State of Odisha, over which this Court has the power of superintendence, which were subsisting as on the date of commencement of national lockdown, shall stand extended till 15^th January 2021.
• The interim orders or directions of any court in the State, which are not of limited duration and were meant to operate till further orders, shall continue to remain in force until modified/altered/vacated by specific order of the court concerned in a particular case.
• Filing of written-statement or return in any Suit or proceeding pending before any Civil Court or any other forum, unless specifically directed, shall stand extended till July 15, 2020. It is however clarified that, if the parties are in a position to file such written-statement or return, they may file it before such date, i.e. 15^th January 2021.
• That it is further directed that the orders of eviction, dispossession, demolition, etc. passed by this Court or any court subordinate to it or any Tribunal or judicial or quasi judicial forum, shall remain in abeyance till 15^th January 2021.
• Interim protection given in all the anticipatory bail applications by the High Court or Sessions Court for a limited period, which are likely to expire by today or has expired in the meantime, shall stand extended till 15^th January 2021. However, any party aggrieved by the conduct of the accused on such interim protection may move the Court in seisin over the matter for cancellation of the interim protection, if prejudice is caused to him/her.
• All the interim bail granted under Section 439, Cr.P.C. by the High Court or Sessions Courts and limited by time-frame specifying an expiry date, stands extended till 15^th January 2021, subject to the condition that, on every 10th day from today the defence counsel shall file a petition supported by affidavit before the competent court in seisin over the matter, to the effect that the person on interim bail is not abusing his/her liberty and he/she is living within the jurisdiction of the Court. If the 10th day falls on a holiday, such affidavit may be filed on the re-opening day succeeding next.
• Parole granted to a person through orders passed by a Court exercising the criminal jurisdiction and limited by time-frame specifying an expiry date, stands extended till 15^th January 2021, subject to the condition specified in Point No.(ix).
• Unless there is a necessity of arrest for maintenance of law and of course order, in a cognizable offence prescribing sentence up to seven years imprisonment, the police should not be in a hurry to arrest the accused without complying with the provision of Section 41(A), Cr.P.C. This shall be effective till 15^th January 2021. (This is however not an interdict or a direction to curb power of the police to arrest, but on the face of the crisis, an advisory to be followed by the police so far as it is practicable and possible).
• It is further directed that the State Government or any of its Department or any Municipal Corporation / Council / Board or any Gram Panchayat or any other local body or any other agency and instrumentality of the State shall not take any action for eviction, and demolition in respect of the property, over which any citizen or person or party or any Body Corporate has physical or symbolic possession as on today till 15^th January 2021.
• That, it is further directed that, any Bank or Financial Institution shall not take action for auction in respect of any property of any citizen or person or party or any Body corporate till 15^th January 2021.
• That it is further directed that if the Government of Odisha and/or any of its Department and/or functionaries, Central Government and/or its departments or functionaries or any Public Sector Undertakings or any Public or Private Companies or any Firm or any individual or person is/are, by the order of this Court or any Court subordinate to it or the Tribunals, required to do a particular thing or carry out a certain direction in a particular manner in a time frame, which expired or is going to expire at any time, during the period of a lockdown or the extended lockdown, time for compliance of such order shall stand extended up to 15^th January 2021, unless specifically directed otherwise.

Further, in order to dispel ambiguity, it has been clarified that:

• Those interim orders, which are not for a limited duration and are to operate until further orders, shall remain unaffected.
• In case extension of interim orders causes undue hardship of any extreme nature to any party, it would be at liberty to seek appropriate relief before the competent forum.
• Directions vide Point No.(ix) shall have no effect if the State is required to resort to eviction or demolition for any urgent public purpose in the larger interest of the public.

Significantly, the 25^th November order won't apply to the cases wherein modification has already been made in different individual Interim Applications filed by the interveners, which will be subject to further modification, if any, to be made while considering the I.As. filed by different parties/interveners on the next date i.e. on 09.12.2020.

Case title - B.K. Ragada v. State of Odisha [W.P.(C) No. 9095 of 2020]

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