SAMBALPUR: A delegation of All Odisha Lawyers Association (AOLA) on Friday met the lawyers of Sambalpur District Bar Association (SDBA) at the Sambalpur Circle Jail. The SDBA lawyers were arrested following the violence at the district court complex here on December 12 last year .
Later, the delegation also met the IG, Sambalpur, Deepak Kumar and Sambalpur district collector, Ananya Das over the matter.Chairman of AOLA, Gyana Mohanty said, “We discussed with the lawyers of the SDBA on all the issues. They confirmed that they are being extended all the cooperation in the jail by the jail authorities. We have assured them of all the cooperation.”
He further said, “While the matter is subjudice, we have requested the state government and chief minister to withdraw the cases against the lawyers after they are released.” The lawyers were agitating in a democratic way for the larger interest of people of Western Odisha, he said, adding, the agitation of the lawyers was genuine. They are lawyers and they give service to society, which should be taken into consideration.
General secretary of the association, Sanjit Kumar Panigrahi said, “We assured the arrested lawyers of the SDBA all the cooperation. We are now preparing the documents required for their bail.”On December 12, a mob demanding establishment of a high court bench barged into the premises of the Sambalpur district court complex before jostling with the police and ransacked the court besides the chamber of the district judge. Subsequently, the Supreme Court asked the Odisha police to take stringent action, following which 39 persons were arrested, including 30 lawyers and nine others who were part of the mob. The lawyers, who were arrested following the incident, are yet to be released on bail.Their bail pleas were rejected twice. The Bar Council of India has also suspended the license to practice of 54 lawyers of the SDBA.
