HC asks govt to list steps for disposal of public pleas

Cuttack: The Orissa high court has directed the state govt to file an affidavit indicating the steps taken for disposal of representations of aggrieved citizens pending before various authorities.
The direction was issued on Thursday while hearing a contempt plea, after the court expressed concern over the large number of such petitions pending before it, mostly concerning the directions issued by the authorities to dispose of the representations.
The court expressed concern that an increasing number of contempt petitions were being filed before it as the representations submitted by the aggrieved people are seldom attended to or disposed of with reasons by the authorities concerned.
Chief secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena joined the court proceedings through video conference in the contempt case in pursuance of the court’s direction and to inform how he proposes to ensure that such orders are complied with within a time-frame.
Jena informed the court that he will hold a meeting soon with the secretaries of various departments to impress upon them to ensure the HC’s orders, particularly relating to disposal of the representations, are complied with as soon as possible. Jena also assured the court that he shall monitor implementation of the court orders by govt officials on a weekly basis.
Taking on record the chief secretary’s submission, the two-judge bench of Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh and Justice Savitri Ratho said, “An affidavit is required to be filed, sworn by the additional chief secretary, department of general administration and public grievance, stating that in how many cases, such representations have been disposed of, referring to the case number of such contempt matters.”
The bench directed for filing of the affidavit by July 25, the next date for hearing of the plea along with the PIL registered suo motu by the HC considering the greater public interest and the cause of substantive justice involved in the large number of contempt petitions.
As many as 10,643 contempt petitions are pending before the HC till June 20.
As a part of the PIL, the high court expected the state govt to have a clear litigation policy in place for redressal of grievances of aggrieved citizens or dispensing justice at the administration level.
The PIL assumes significance as such petitions constitute nearly half of all the cases being filed in the HC, contributing to judicial backlog and affecting the justice delivery system.