Orissa High Court lawyers call off strike

Cuttack, Nov 22 (UNI) Lawyers of Orissa High Court today called off their agitation after a full court rejected the request of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to set up permanent benches of the High court in Sambalpur and Berhampur.

Orissa High Court Bar Association president B Tripathy today said the full court, presided over by Chief Justice Ashok Ganguly, had rejected the Chief Minister's request on Monday last.

The Bar, Mr Tripathy said, thanked the court for the decision and decided to join the court.

The functioning of Orissa High court and the lowers courts in Cuttack was paralysed after the lawyers abstained from work protesting the Chief Minister's letter to Chief Justice A K Ganguly favouring establishment of permanent High Court benches in Western and South Orissa.

The High Court Bar Association in a resolution passed at its general body had decided first to abstain from the court on November 15 and 16 and then extended it till November 30 as a mark of protest.

The Chief Minister in a letter to the Chief Justice had favoured setting up of permanent High Court benches at Sambalpur and Berhampur to provide justice to the poor at their doorstep.

The Association had urged the Chief Justice to communicate its decision to the government.

The meeting also resolved to request the government not to pursue for the establishment of circuit courts in these two places.

Reacting to the stand taken by the lawyers in Cuttack, the District Bar Associations of Western Orissa had threatened to demand for a separate state if the circuit benches were not set up in their areas.

The District Bar Association of Sundergarha today boycotted the court, demanding bench of the High Court in Western Orissa.

Mr Tripathy said the lawyers of the High court would abstain from attending the courts on Thursday and Friday to protest the recent attack on the lawyers in Lucknow.

UNI