Bhubaneswar, May 23: Orissa High Court has asked the Sahitya Akademi to convene a fresh meeting of its selection committee to choose entries for the award for translation works in Oriya language for 2010.

While hearing a PIL on the matter, a division bench of the high court that included Chief Justice V. Gopalgowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra said in its order issued on May 19: “Since the previous meeting was cancelled, the Selection Committee has to convene a fresh meeting for the purpose. The Committee will comply its job within a reasonable time.”

Noted writer and journalist Barendra Krushna Dhal filed the FIR after the Akademi award for translation in Oriya language was not announced for 2010.

Oriya was the only language that did not figure in the Akademi’s 2010 award list. Although he repeatedly requested the Akademi to announce the awardee for translation works in Oriya, he alleged his pleas went unheeded. Dhal had moved court praying for quashing of Akademi selection committee’s February 10 decision and seeking a direction to convene a fresh meeting of the panel for publication of a revised list of awards.

The selection committee had cancelled its meeting for choosing translation works in Oriya language for the award on technical grounds when the selection process was on.

The meeting of the selection committee was reportedly cancelled in the wake of allegations about the leakage of names of jury members.

Dhal had named the Union culture secretary, Sahitya Akademi’s secretary A. Krishnamurthy, and its regional secretary as parties in the PIL alleging that the Akademi had discriminated against Oriya authors vis-à-vis those in other languages.