SAMBALPUR: Police and lawyers clashed at Nelson Mandela Kacheri Chowk here on Wednesday during the ongoing agitation demanding establishment of a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court in Sambalpur.
Lawyers and members of various social organisations under the banner of Sambalpur Nagarik Kriyanusthan Committee have reportedly kept the state government offices and courts paralysed over the issue since November 2. The agitators are demanding the state government to send a comprehensive proposal regarding establishment of a permanent bench of the High Court in Sambalpur.
The Supreme Court had warned the lawyers against continuing the agitation and threatened to suspend their licences on November 14 but the latter did not relent. On the day, the lawyers had gathered at Kacheri Chowk and did not allow judges and other judicial officers to enter the court. As the police intervened, the lawyers and the agitators jostled with them during which the tent erected for the agitation at the site got uprooted. To avoid any untoward situation, the judicial officers returned without entering court premises.
Chairman of Action Committee of Sambalpur District Bar Association (SDBA), Pradeep Bohidar said, the establishment of High Court bench is a public demand. “We were peacefully requesting the judicial officers to not enter the court but police tried to obstruct our agitation, which led to the retaliation by the lawyers and the public,” he said
However, a senior police officer said it was a minor confrontation. “We were trying to negotiate with the agitators but they were reluctant to let the judicial officers into the court. However, no force was used by the police on the agitators,” he said.
The Supreme Court had expressed displeasure on the lawyers’ strike and said that it expects the Bar Council of India (BCI) to take appropriate action including suspension of licences of the lawyers.