HC delivers 75 judgments on eve of 75th anniversary

BHUBANESWAR: A division bench of the Orissa high court on Monday delivered judgments in 75 criminal appeals in murder cases and acquitted more than 30 accused, to mark the 75th anniversary of establishment of the HC. The high court was established on July 26, 1948.

The bench of Justices Debabrata Dash and Sanjeeb Panigrahi delivered judgments in the cases which were heard from June 21.In a majority of the cases, the appellants were in jail. Their jail criminal appeals (JCRLA) were mostly filed through the Odisha State Legal Services Authority (OSLSA). The high court had engaged amicus curiae for the appellants. Apart from the 30 who were acquitted, the HC modified the charge of murder (section 302 of the IPC) into culpable homicide not amounting to murder (section 304 of the IPC) in around 10 cases.
In many cases, the bench pointed out there was shoddy investigation by police while setting the accused free from custody. While ordering the release of a man from Sundargarh, jailed for the murder of a child, the HC pointed out ignorance by the police and asked the DGP to "immediately take all such remedial measures by looking into the investigation part of serious cases with seriousness and see that the standard of investigation marks improvement through training of the police officials and then actions against those who commit the blunders consciously or otherwise".
Pointing out that an inspector rank officer had no knowledge about recording the confession statement of an accused before a magistrate (under CrPC 164), the bench said, "We are pained to state here that in a case of murder, a police officer being ignorant of the bare minimum provision of law with which he is supposed to come across every day when takes up the investigation and the disastrous consequence follows for his ignorance."
Sources said the judges undertook the marathon exercise to deliver 75 judgments to mark 75 years of formation of the HC after President Droupadi Murmu raised concern on the prolonged pendency of criminal appeals in an address in the Supreme Court on November 26, 2022 on Constitution Day.
"While there are many ways in which the HC is celebrating its 75 glorious years, the marathon judgments is an effort to convey about the court's commitment to speedy justice delivery and progress in modes and methods of justice dispensation using new technologies," a judicial officer associated with the high court said.