Bhubaneswar, July 23: The Odisha government has on Wednesday approved the establishment of 56 new courts at the Civil Judge (Junior Division)-cum-Judicial Magistrate First Class level. Alongside this, the government has sanctioned the creation of 840 new posts across various roles to support the functioning of these courts.
The newly approved positions span a wide range of categories, including civil judges, head clerks, bench clerks, stenographers, junior clerks, typists, copyists, process servers, peons, house orderlies, sweepers, and night watchmen, among others.
Officials from the Law Department have formally communicated the decision to the Accountant General to facilitate smooth implementation. Recruitment for the new positions will be carried out as per the provisions of the Odisha Reservation of Vacancies (ORV) Act and other applicable rules. Funding for the initiative will come from the state budget for the financial year 2025–26.
As part of the expansion, 13 districts will benefit from the new courts, with Mayurbhanj district set to receive the highest number—13 courts in total.
Currently, Odisha has around 700 functional courts. However, the judicial system continues to be burdened with over 1.5 million pending cases, including more than 1.2 million criminal cases. The Odisha High Court alone is grappling with a backlog of approximately 1.89 lakh cases.
