Bhubaneswar: With 20 of the 33 sanctioned posts of judges in Orissa high court set to remain vacant following the retirement of chief justice Harish Tandon, BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra on Saturday urged Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to facilitate appointments through a time-bound process.In a letter to Meghwal, Patra said the high court’s working strength would fall to 13 judges after Tandon’s retirement on Nov 15, leaving around 60.6% of its sanctioned posts vacant. He pointed out that the vacancy rate was substantially higher than the national high court vacancy rate of around 26%.Patra said that despite judges joining the high court through transfers in 2025, subsequent retirements and transfers had reduced its working strength from 20 judges in Dec 2025 to 13.He linked the vacancies to the mounting case burden, citing a Union govt reply in Parliament in Aug this year that put the number of pending cases in Orissa HC at 1,70,346. Of these, 38,936 have been pending for more than a decade.“Fresh judicial appointments would considerably strengthen the high court’s institutional capacity,” Patra wrote.“I would therefore respectfully request your consideration in facilitating the filling up of judicial vacancies in Orissa high court, in consultation with the appropriate constitutional authorities, through a coordinated and time-bound approach,” he added.