As many as 81 posts of judge are lying vacant in various courts in the State, said law Minister Arun Sahu responding to a question of BJP member Dilip Ray.
While in the Odisha High Court, five posts of judge are vacant, 37 posts of District Judge, 22 posts of Senior Civil Judge, 11 posts of Civil Judge and 11 posts of Special Judicial Magistrate are vacant in various lower rung courts in the State, Sahu stated.
There are 27 sanctioned posts of Judge in the High Court, while in the lower courts, the sanctioned strength is 694. While 22 judges are presently working in the High Court, a large number of posts of Judge are vacant in the lower courts, the Minister informed.
He further said that given the number of cases pending in different courts, at least 391 judicial officers are required for their disposal.
He said of the sanctioned strength of judicial officials, 81 posts are vacant.
Sahu informed that in the Odisha High Court, 1,70,597 cases are lying pending including 1,34,510 civil and 36,0887 criminal cases. About 65, 843 civil and 15,468 criminal cases are of five years old. Similarly, in the lower courts 67,388 civil and 3, 55, 445 criminal cases pending are five years old.
Notably, the State litigation Policy was implemented in the State in 2011 for disposal of the pending cases.
However, despite the policy having been in force for last four years, the number of pending cases has been on the rise. There are committees at the State and district levels to implement the policy but the committees are not able to hold review meeting regularly.