Orissa high court asks state govt not to form new districts without its order
The Orissa high court’s order has been seen as a blow to chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s move to create more districts in the state
The Orissa high court has directed the state government not to form any new district without the consent of the court, in what has been seen as a blow to chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s move to create more districts in the state.
Hearing a writ petition over creation of new districts, a division bench of acting chief justice BR Sarangi and justice Murahari Raman observed that the state is going to make further districts without having any guidelines or principles and at the caprice and whims of the government, new districts have been created. “The process of reorganisation of district, which the state government wants to undertake may continue, but no final order shall be passed without leave of the court,” the bench ordered.
Akshaya Kumar Mohanty, president of Rairangpur Bar Association and District Kriyanusthan Committee had filed a PIL seeking direction to the state government for declaration of Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj as a new district taking Bamanghati (commonly known as Rairangpur) and Panchapeedh (commonly known as Karanjia) sub-divisions under its fold. The petitioner alleged that 17 new districts were created at the caprice and whims of the government. And the same is happening again only for political gains. The petitioner in the writ petition had sought direction to the state government to constitute a high-level committee under the chairmanship of an incumbent or retired Judge of High Court in order to examine the demands for creation of new districts in Odisha.
Early this month, the Odisha government had set the ball rolling for declaration of Padampur sub-division in Bargarh as a new district with an official team headed by revenue divisional commissioner of northern division scouting few sites for construction of district headquarters.In November last year, chief minister Patnaik had promised that Padampur subdivision in Bargarh district comprising six blocks, six tahasils, two NACs and a population of around 6.7 lakh would be declared as 31st district of Odisha by December 2023.
Apart from Padampur, demands of separate districts have been rising from Kantabanji and Titilagarh in Bolangir district for declaration as separate districts.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pradeep Purohit alleged that the Naveen Patnaik government did not want to accord district status to Padampur and had engineered the PIL. “Patnaik has betrayed the people of Padampur. He had assured them to accord district status to the Padampur subdivision in a bid to make BJD win the by-election. But as he actually does not want to make it a district, he roped in lawyers to file a writ petition and obtain a stay order from the court? Did any court put a stay order when late Biju Patnaik announced 17 more districts making it 30 in Odisha,” Purohit asked.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sarat Patnaik said the state government cannot create new districts arbitrarily. “There are certain rules and criteria to fulfill before announcing any district. During 2022 bypolls, Naveen Patnaik should not have announced to make Padampur a new district. It was a violation of the Election Model Code of Conduct,” said Patnaik.
However, BJD MLA Prasanta Kumar Muduli said the formation of the district would take place as per Constitutional norms. “The Odisha government is also aware and concerned about it. Everything will be done after complying with norms and appropriate measures will be taken at a favourable time,” he said.
