One-man commission to recommend permanent HC benches in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Feb 23 (UNI) A one-man commission, headed by retired High Court Judge S R Pal, will be set up to address the demands of lawyers agitating for setting up High Court Benches in Orissa, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced at the State Assembly today.

Making a statement in this regard, Mr Patnaik said, ''Considering the complexity of the different issues involved in the agitation of the lawyers, the Commission would look into the relative demands of the lawyers and submit its report within six months.

The Chief Minister said there have been persistent demands from the Bar Associations of Western Orissa and Southern Orissa to have permanent Benches of the High Court in Sambalpur and Berhampur respectively.

Accordingly, the state government had requested the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court to consider the setting up of these two permanent Benches of the High court.

But the Chief Justice, did not find sufficient justification for establishment of the permanent Benches at these two places.

Mr Patnaik said subsequently, the demand for setting up permanent benches at different parts of the state has gathered momentum as the lawyers of Sambalpur, Bolangir and few other places have gone on strike demanding permanent benches of the High Court at Sambalpur, Berhampur, Balasore, Bhubaneswar and other places.

Recently, the lawyers of Western Orissa boycotted court proceedings for three consecutive days and staged a demonstration before the State Assembly demanding a permanent Bench of the High Court in Western Orissa.

At Baripada, the lawyers came onto the streets boycotting the courts in Mayurbhanj districts urging the government to set up a permanent Bench of the High Court at Baripada. Similar voices were raised by the lawyers in Bhubaneswar, who resorted to road blockades in support of their demand for a Bench of the High Court in the state capital.

UNI DP LL AKJ KN1923