Lawyers demonstrate in support of HC bench

Baripada, Feb.15 (UNI) Dressed in their uniforms hundreds of lawyers today marched the main thoroughfares demanding establishment of a permanent bench of Orissa High Court here.

The sub-divisional headquarters towns of Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala also reverberated with demonstrations as lawyers there echoed similar demands.

Earlier, the advocates picketed in front of all the entrance points leading to the judicial courts and prevented the entry of the District and Sessions Judge, Mayurbhanj, and other judges paralysing the functioning of judicial courts. .

The Advocates' procession later converged near the Mayurbhanj Collectorate campus where a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was routed through the Mayurbhanj Collector.

The memorandum alleged that the conditions of the merger agreement signed by the Government of India and the then Bhanja King Late Pratap Chandra Bhanj Deo was violated and the people of Mayurbhanj had been being deprived of a High Court that they had during the pre-merger days.

The princely state of Mayurbhanj was merged with Orissa on January one, 1947.

The memorandum referred to the ''glorious past'' of an excellant judicial system that was first started during the benevolent Bhanja king Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo who had established the Mayurbhanj State Council, a quasi judicial body where the people could go for appeal against king's own orders.

The lawyers claimed that the merger agreement in the Clause.2 of the supplementary list clearly mentioned about the establishment of a Circuit bench of the Orissa High Court at Baripada.

They further said adequate infrastructures suitable for the Circuit Bench at Baripada were also available at Baripada and it would not put any burden on the state exchequer, the memorandum further pointed out.

Mayurbhanj District Bar association President Srinivas Pradhan, and General Secretary Arabinda Acharya threatened to further intensify the agitation in case, the government failed to fulfill its demand.

UNI XC/BD-DP KK DB1728