Orissa High Court Felicitates Its Former Chief Justices & Judges While Celebrating 75th Year Of Its Establishment

As a part of celebration of 75^th year of its establishment, the Orissa High Court on Saturday felicitated its former Chief Justices and Judges in a function held at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Cuttack. The event was presided over by Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, Judge, Supreme Court of India in the presence of Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court and other puisne judges.

The function was organised to acknowledge the contribution of all the former Chief Justices and Judges of the High Court in its successful journey of 75 years. Advocate General Ashok Kumar Parija, the President of High Court Bar Association Dharanidhar Nayak and the members of the Bar Association attended the function.

The dignitaries felicitated by the High Court included former Chief Justices of India, Justice Gopala Ballav Patnaik and Justice Dipak Misra and former Judges of the Supreme Court, Justice Arijit Pasayat, Justice P.K. Ayer Balasubramanyan, Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly, Justice Ananga Kumar Patnaik, Justice V. Gopala Gowda, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice Vineet Saran.

Speaking on the occasion, AG Parija lauded the efforts of Chief Justice Muralidhar in transforming the Odisha Judiciary to be one of the best in the country. He urged the legal fraternity to reaffirm its commitment to the principles of justice, fairness and equality and to strengthen the legal system making it transparent, accessible and accountable.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Justice Muralidhar said on 26^th July this year, the High Court of Orissa would achieve an important milestone in its history by completing the 75^th year of existence and in the long journey of 75 years, the Bar and Bench of Odisha have built an edifice on the foundation of the institution that was laid in 1916 with establishment of the Circuit Bench of the Patna High Court at Cuttack.

Paying tribute to Justice Bira Kishore Ray, the first Chief Justice of the High Court, he said that the High Court honoured its former Chief Justices and Judges who nurtured the institution and helped it grow. The Chief Justice also paid tribute to late Justice Ranganath Misra who was the first Judge of the High Court to adorn the highest judicial seat, i.e. the Chief Justice of India.

He also acknowledged the contributions of other legal luminaries and doyens of Odisha such as Utkalamani Gopabandhu Das, Sadasiva Mishra, Rabindranath Sinha, Bibhudendra Mishra, Viswanath Pasayat, Barrister Ranjit Mahanty, Bijoy Pal, Prabir Palit, Ramakanta Mohapatra, Bipin Bihari Ratho and Bijan Behari Ray.

Sharing the performance report of the State Judiciary, the Chief Justice said that the expectations of the people of Odisha from their Judges are growing. He urged the lawyers and Judges to work even harder in contributing to the mission of being an institution that is increasingly accessible, inclusive, transparent and accountable to the people of Odisha.