Inauguration of Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres (VWDCs), Virtual Court Rooms and e-Filing Stations in District Court Complexes of Odisha and one day Training Workshop on Functioning of the VWDCs.

Bhubaneswar,14/05 (Pratyusha Bureau):

With a view to facilitating examination of vulnerable witnesses in congenial atmosphere in Court proceedings Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres (VWDCs) in 15 District Courts in Odisha were simultaneously inaugurated in the auditorium of Odisha Judicial Academy, Cuttack on 14th May, 2022 through virtual mode. Virtual Court Rooms in 9 Districts and e-Filing Stations in 17 Districts were also inaugurated on the occasion. A one day training workshop on functioning of the VWDCs was also held for the Judicial Officers and Public Prosecutors of the State.

Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Judge, Supreme Court of India inaugurated the VWDCs, Virtual Court Rooms and e-Filing Stations in the presence of Dr. Justice S. Muralidhar, Chief Justice and Justice Gita Mittal, former Chief Justice, High Court of Jammu & Kashmir, presently Chairperson of the Vulnerable Witness Committee (VWC) constituted by the Supreme Court of India. Justice S.K. Sahoo, Chairperson, VWDC Committee and the Judges of the High Court of Orissa were also present on the occasion. Among others, the Advocate General of Odisha, Assistant Solicitor General of India for the High Court of Orissa, Office Bearers of the High Court Bar Association, Government officials, Judicial Officers and Public Prosecutors of the State were present. Ms. Vibha Datta Makhija, Senior Advocate and Ms. Vrinda Grover, Advocate of Supreme Court of India and Ms. Geeta Ramaseshan, Advocate, Madras High Court were the Resource Persons for the workshop.
Delivering the welcome address during the inaugural session Justice S.K. Sahoo informed that Dr. S. Muralidhar had been dreaming of establishing VWDCs in all the Districts of Odisha since about a year and the initiatives of High Court of Orissa in the field began in 2021 with opening of VWDCs in the new buildings of Bhadrak and Malkangiri District Courts. He said that after the Judgment of Supreme Court on 11th January, 2022 in Smruti Tukaram Badade Vrs. State of Maharashtra concerted efforts could be taken with constitution of VWDC Committee of the High Court and formulation of the High Court of Orissa VWDC Scheme, 2022 resulting in establishment of VWDCs in all the 30 Districts of the State.

Highlighting different dimensions of witness and victim protection Justice Gita Mittal stressed upon the need of designing procedures in Justice Administration System to accommodate special factors like risks, harms, secondary traumatization, disability etc. to enable a meaningful participation of special groups and said that uniform procedure for trial of all offences and examination of all victims or witnesses does not necessarily result in equal access to justice. She said there has been a historic neglect of rights of witnesses and victims of crimes in the Criminal Justice System and initially the issue was addressed with mechanisms like camera proceedings which proved to be insufficient but VWDC appears to be real time instance to judicial sensitivity and activism. Justice Mittal also emphasized on the need of striking balance between witness protection and fare trial and training as well as sensitization of the duty holders as well as the vulnerable sections.
Speaking on the occasion Dr. S. Muralidhar expressed happiness over the fact that VWDCs and e-Filing Stations had been opened in each District Court of the State and informed about the idea of establishing VWDCs and e-Filing Stations in the outlying stations as well. Touching the issue of witness protection he said that the concept of vulnerability should be seen in a broader perspective because a witness of any age or gender could be vulnerable. Justice Muralidhar stressed upon the need of more work in the field of witness protection in India and more particularly in Odisha where criminal cases outnumber the civil cases. Speaking on e-Filing of cases, Justice Muralidhar said that Odisha has been the first State in the Country to implement e-Filing 3.0 in all the Districts and lawyers as well as law clerks are being trained on various aspects of e-Filing.

Delivering the inaugural address Justice L. Nageswara Rao discussed on various aspects of vulnerability and said that apart from the criminal cases instances of vulnerability can also be found in family matters, domestic violence cases, juvenile justice cases and even in civil cases. He also spoke about the evolution of the jurisprudence of victims’ rights in India. Justice Nageswara Rao referred to Article-21 of the Constitution as the “Triangulationof Rights” – the rights of victim, the rights of accused and the rights of society and emphasized on the need to strike a balance between the conflicting interests of victims and accused. Justice B.P. Routray, Member, VWDC Committee, High Court of Orissa proposed the vote of thanks. After the inauguration four technical sessions were held. In the first technical session Ms. Vibha Datta Makhija was the Resource Person and issues like recognizing the range of vulnerabilities and the necessary infrastructure in vulnerable witness courtrooms and deposition centres were discussed. In the second technical session Ms. Vrinda Grover deliberated about various aspects of ensuring fair trial in securing rights of the accused and providing assistance to vulnerable witnesses. During the third technical session Ms. Geeta Ramaseshan, deliberated about the competency of vulnerable witnesses and the right to compensation. In the concluding session there was exchange of thoughts between the participants and the resource persons where Justice R.K. Pattanaik, Judge, High Court of Orissa made his concluding remarks on the workshop.Odisha is believed to be the third state in the country in establishing VWDCs in such a large scale.