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Lawyers’ stir continues

BERHAMPUR: The indefinite cease work agitation by lawyers of the Ganjam Bar Association continued on the 57th day on Wednesday.

The lawyers have been demanding establishment of a High Court bench in the city. The agitating lawyers did not allow the district judge to enter the court premises in the city despite his requests. The Bar Association held a meeting to discuss the ransacking of three government offices in the city on Tuesday. The general secretary of the Bar Association, Manoj Patnaik, condemned the acts of violence. The Bar Association also condemned the attack on journalists of a local cable network. It was alleged that the miscreants had also taken away one of their cameras when they were shooting ransacking of the sub-collector’s office. The Bar Association compensated the cost of the camera to the journalist. The president of the Bar Association, Sudhansu Panda, apologised to the scribes for the alleged attack on them.

The scribes of the city held a meeting at the press club in protest against the alleged attack on journalists. They went in a rally to file an FIR against the persons involved in attack and snatching of camera from the scribes on Monday. The Berhampur SP, Nitinjeet Singh, also promised action against miscreants involved in the act. The administrative officials have also filed five more FIRs in connection with the ransacking of the tehsil office, sub-collector’s office and court of the joint commissioner of settlement on the premises of the RDC office.

Similarly the courts in western Orissa could not function on Wednesday for the second day due to continuing cease work agitation by the bar associations of the area for the establishment of a high court bench. This agitation by lawyers has become a major problem for the undertrial prisoners. Most of them who have their cases in Berhampur court or any other court in Ganjam district are unable to move their bail petition as the agitating lawyers are not letting the courts to function since more than one-and-half months. Even if one gets the bail from high court, the bail order has to be cleared by the trial court. The undertrial prisoners can approach the district judge through the welfare officer of the jail.

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