Cuttack, Nov. 10: Orissa high court has issued an interim stay on the food supplies and consumer welfare department's September 26 notification to open circuit benches of the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission at Sambalpur and Berhampur.

The high court issued the interim stay acting on a petition from the Odisha Consumer Bar Association.

While the state government had gone ahead with its decision to set up two circuit benches - one in west Odisha and another in south Odisha - the Odisha Consumer Bar Association sought intervention of the high court on the ground that it is being done without increasing the number of judges in the principal bench in Cuttack.

"We are not opposed to circuit benches. Our contention is that they should not be established at the cost of the principal bench," said the bar association secretary advocate Aswini Kumar Sahoo, who filed the petition.

"The principal bench has just three judges. If the two circuit benches function one week every month, it cannot function for the period as two judges are required for a sitting," Sahoo said.

According to the petition, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission had asked the state government in 2004 to provide eight judges for the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission to ensure functioning of four benches.

The bar association had long since demanded at least one more judge for the functioning of two benches in the principal bench. The state commission has no typists and no stenos. The posts have been vacant for nearly 10 years. Consequently, fourth grade employees are expected to do their job, the association said.

The petition came up on Tuesday. After a preliminary hearing, the division bench of Chief Justice Vineet Saran and Justice B.R. Sarangi issued notice to the secretary, state food supplies and consumer welfare department, and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, while posting the matter to November 22 for hearing along with their responses.

In the interim, the court directed the state government to keep in abeyance the notification for setting up circuit benches at Sambalpur and Berhampur. According to the notification, the circuit bench at Sambalpur will hear consumer cases from Dhenkanal, Angul, Bargarh, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Subarnapur, Sambalpur, Balangir, Deogarh and Jharsuguda districts under the revenue divisional commissioner (north).

The circuit bench at Berhampur will hear consumer cases from Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Nuapada, Koraput, Boudh, Nabrangpur, Malkangiri and Raygada districts under the revenue divisional commissioner (south).

Latest reports said over 13,000 cases were pending in consumer courts across the state, which included around 6,000 with the state commission and over 7,000 with the district forums. Of the 31 district forums, 17 were defunct, as they have no member judges.

However, the District Consumer Bar Association Ganjam in Berhampur has strongly condemned the move of the Cuttack-based Odisha Consumer Bar Association to oppose the setting up of a circuit bench of the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission in Berhampur.

"The circuit bench in Berhampur will hear appeals of consumers from 10 southern Odisha districts - Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Boudh, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkanagiri, Nabarangapur, Kalahandi and Nuapada. We have intimated the bar associations of other districts to support us," said general secretary of the District Consumer Bar Association Ganjam Satish Panigrahi.

The general body meeting of the District Consumer Bar Association Ganjam was held on November 8. "The Ganjam bar association authorised me to file a petition as a third party intervener. The high court has added us as third party. We will convene the general body meeting after November 12 to decide on the future strategy," Panigrahi said.