Cuttack, May 7: The centenary celebrations of the circuit court of Patna High Court here, precursor of Orissa High Court, will be held tomorrow in the presence of the Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur here.

According to records related to the history of Orissa High Court, the territory of Bihar and Orissa (now Odisha) were earlier under the jurisdiction of the High Court of Judicature of Fort William (Calcutta) in Bengal. A letter patent issued on February 16, 1916 by King George V constituted the High Court of Judicature at Patna in the Bihar and Orissa province.

Patna High Court started functioning with a Chief Justice and six judges and a Circuit Court for Odisha began functioning in Cuttack three months later. It had its first sitting on May 18, 1916. Madhusudan Das was the president of the Cuttack Bar Association at that time. In his address welcoming the move, Das had expressed hope that the circuit court would become a permanent bench for Orissa in future.

But Orissa was not given a high court when it was made a separate province on April 1, 1936. Patna High Court exercised jurisdiction over both the provinces of Bihar and Orissa till July 26, 1948.

The High Court Bar Association in Cuttack demanded a separate high court for Orissa by passing a resolution on July 26, 1938.

"On April 30, 1948 the Government of India first declared a Court of the Province for Orissa from July 5, 1948. But subsequently, by an Orissa High Court (Amendment) Order the date was changed and H.J. Karania, the then Chief Justice of the Federal Court of India inaugurated Orissa High Court on July 26, 1948," the records say.

Established with four judges, Orissa High Court has 27 sanctioned judges' posts, including the Chief Justice. But, it has 20 judges now, including the Chief Justice.

Functioning of court proceedings was shifted to a new seven-storey high court building on January 2, 2014.

With 1.68 lakh sqft carpet area, the new building has 22 courtrooms and 22 chambers for judges along with lounges for them and other state-of-the-art facilities.

Incumbent Chief Justice Vineet Saran is the 29th person to occupy the post. Two Orissa High Court judges - Justice Ranganath Mishra and Justice Gopala Ballav Patnaik -were elevated to Chief Justice of India.

The high court is observing the centenary celebration along with the bar association. "The Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur will inaugurate the centenary celebrations tomorrow in presence of Supreme Court judge Dipak Mishra and chief minister Naveen Patnaik," said Orissa High Court Bar Association secretary Bijay Ragada.

"The celebrations will continue till May 20 with a seminar and cultural programmes by the bar association, high court staff, district judge court staff members and moharirs of advocates," Ragada said.