A rational on High Court Bench in Odisha

High court bench or circuit bench are existing in the same state in India based on work demand or in far off backward remote locations such as Madurai and Chennai; Mumbai, Nagpur and Aurangabad, Bangaluru, Hubli and Gulberga, Jaipur and Jodhpur; Gowalior, Jabalpur and Indore, Lucknow and Allhabad or in other states or UT such as Panaji, Port Blair, Kohima, Aizwal, Imphal, Agartala, Shillong, etc. Existing HC benches are located in states which are larger than Odisha in population, some of them like AP, Gujarat, Bihar etc are larger and have more work load than Odisha HC, but does not have any HC bench or circuit bench. In this respect political demand of two HC benches in Odisha may be a difficult task or illogical, both Sambalpur and Behrampur are also well connected with Cuttack and people can return in the same day finishing work in HC Cuttack by train.  HC benches in any state in India are located at least 320 km away from parent HC seat except Lucknow (which is a state capital and Allahabad being the court since British time) and other UT. Both Sambalpur and Berhampur are located less than 300 km from Cuttack. Therefore, rather one HC bench demand should be made in Bhawanipatna, a central location for South Western Odisha comprising KBK-Kandhamal-Boudh-Gajapati-Bargarh region based on backward, tribal and remote locations which needs long hours travel and not directly connected by train.  Bhawanipatna is also far away from Cuttack, above 400 km.  In this ground Bhawanipatna has a solid ground to establish a HC bench or circuit bench. In case of two HC benches in Odisha, second one may come in Keonjhar-Sundergarh region, a location which is above 400 km from Cuttack. However, our interest should be get one at Bhawanipatna, so local demand and pressure should continue. Kalahandi bar association has already taken initiative, this must be followed.