BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has asked the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner to provide a workspace to the advocates near its old office in Kalpana Square here after the temporary shed they were working from was demolished by the civic body last year.
In case BMC commissioner fails to do so, he has been asked to pay Rs 1 compensation to the four petitioners.
A lawyer Bijaya Kumar Panda and three others had filed a petition alleging the shed structure on General Administration department’s plot number - 370 in Gautam Nagar area was demolished by BMC in April last year without giving them any prior notice or following the due procedure of law.
The petitioner said at least 50 advocates were working under the shed as the bar association building did not have sufficient space to accommodate all the lawyers.
During the hearing of the case, the General Administration department apprised OHRC that it had never requested BMC to demolish the shed structure constructed on its plot. BMC too acknowledged that the eviction drive was launched only to demolish the shops which were constructed illegally in front of the new judicial court complex.
Rights activist Biswapriya Kanungo, who assisted Panda to file a petition in this regard in OHRC, said the advocates had requested the Works department in 2018 to construct a temporary structure on the GA plot as the bar association building did not have sufficient space.
The advocates sitting under the shed were providing miscellaneous and consultation services to large number of people everyday. However, it was demolished illegally by the BMC. In its order, OHRC has recommended BMC to provide proper accommodation to the petitioners and other advocates near its old office within eight weeks, said Kanungo.