CUTTACK: The agitating lawyers on Wednesday burnt the effigy of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to protest inaction of police in arresting the accused cops involved in assaulting one of their colleagues.
Shouting slogans against Naveen and Law Minster Pratap Jena, the lawyers burnt the former’s effigy in front of Cuttack Collectorate.
On the other hand, BJD Legal Front Advisor Asim Amitabh Das said the lawyers’ cease-work agitation is politically motivated. Addressing the media, Das said the protest is being carried out vindictively at the behest of some self-interest groups even though the State Government has made sincere efforts to resolve the impasse.
Reacting to the Orissa High Court Bar Association’s warning of action against lawyers who had defied its resolution and announced to resume court work, Das said the members of BJD Legal Front were ready to give appropriate explanation if the lawyers’ body issued show cause notice to them.On the day, Cuttack DCP Akhilesvar Singh also clarified on the allegations of the HC Bar Association that no action was initiated either by the police or by State Government to resolve the cop-lawyer dispute.
“We have tried at every level, starting from IIC, ACP, DCP to CP and DGP, to end the standoff. We had reached an agreement with the office bearers of HC Bar Association at Naraj Inspection Bungalow on September 25 to resolve the issue with some terms and conditions following which the lawyers had assured to call off their strike the next day. However, they did not keep their word,” Singh said.
Now, the situation has worsened with the general public bearing the brunt of the strike. “We appeal to the lawyers’ fraternity to call off their strike,” he added. High Court Bar Association secretary Satyabrata Mohanty termed the above clarifications as politically motivated and an afterthought.