HUBLI: Lawyers in Hubli have intensified their agitation against the State Government's move to set up the Circuit Bench of the Karnataka High Court at Water and Land Management Institute (WALMI), near Dharwad.

Continuing boycott of court proceedings for the second day on Tuesday, the lawyers locked the Hubli Tahsildar's office for a while as a mark of protest.

The lawyers who gathered at the court complex here took out a march to the Tahsildar's office. On reaching the Tahsildar's office, they staged `rasta roko' on Lamington Road, throwing traffic out of gear. The police had a tough time streamlining traffic.

The protest march was led by C.R. Patil, former vice-president of the State Bar Council.

After the `rasta roko,' the lawyers asked staff at the Tasildar's office complex to come out and then locked it for a while.

Demand

They urged the Government to reconsider its move to set up the Circuit Bench at WALMI. They urged the Chief Minister not to perform the `bhoomi puja' there on April 11. They said that the public will be put to a lot of inconvenience if the bench is set up on the WALMI premises, which is about 12 km from Dharwad.

"A place between Hubli and Dharwad will be ideal for locating the bench", they said.

One of the office-bearers of Hubli Bar association told presspersons that the association will be holding discussions with other organisations in the city on Wednesday to decide the next course of action.

Hubli lawyers had taken a decision to boycott court proceedings till April 11, the day on which the Chief Minister is scheduled to perform the `bhoomi puja.'

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