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Bandh hits normal life

BHUBANESWAR: Normal life was paralysed in 10 western Orissa districts following a 12-hour bandh call given by various district bar associations demanding establishment of circuit bench of High Court on Friday.

Offices and business establishments remained closed while attendance in government offices was very thin. Educational institutes were also seen closed during the day. Vehicles remained off the road and a few long-distance buses left for their destination early in the morning. Train movement between Sambalpur and Bolangir was severely affected. However, no untoward incident was reported from any part of the districts. The bandh call was given by the central working committee of all bar associations for establishment of circuit bench, a longstanding demand of the region. The bandh was total in Bolangir, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Boudh and Sundargarh.

In the capital city, members of Bhubaneswar Bar Association blocked Puri-Bhubaneswar busy road after boycotting court proceedings demanding shifting of Orissa High Court to here. Vehicular movement was also affected for two hours due to the strike. They burnt tyres on the road while nobody was allowed to enter the court premises in the morning. Association Secretary Gyan Ranjan Mohanty said shifting of High Court to capital city would help saving Rs. 16 crores being incurred annually towards traveling expenses of employees.

Mr. Mohapatra demanded the Government should discard the idea of augmenting existing High Court infrastructure in Cuttack. The Bhubaneswar Bar Association also demanded that all major offices, including Director General and Inspector General of Police, Orissa Administrative Tribunal and State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission to the capital city. Similarly, about 600 lawyers affiliated to Ganjam Bar Association boycott the court proceedings on Friday demanding establishment of a permanent bench of Orissa High Court at Berhampur.

"This has been our long-standing demand. The bench would not only dispose litigations in the district at faster rate but also a number of southern districts would get benefited out of this," Ganjam Bar Association secretary Manoj Patnaik said.

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