Orissa HC Bench: Agitators Clash With Cops Again In Odisha’s Sambalpur

Sambalpur: Tension ran high at Kacheri Chhak in Odisha’s Sambalpur again as lawyers and members of various social organisations scuffled with police personnel on Monday during ‘Satyagraha’ launched over demand for the establishment of a High Court bench in Odisha’s Sambalpur.

According to sources, the agitators joined the rally using different traditional instruments and holding their own banners along with the lawyer. They were stopped by police while attempting to break the barricade and enter the court to intervene in the proceedings, leading to the face-off.

The judges were safely escorted out of the court by police even as the agitators burnt effigies of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Also Read: Lawyers Of Sambalpur To Defy SC Order, Continue Stir Over HC Bench

A similar clash was reported in the town on November 30.

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 the establishment of a permanent bench of the High Court in Sambalpur.

On December 9, Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju told Lok Sabha that the Odisha government has not yet submitted a detailed proposal for establishment of benches of Orissa High Court, including its location in consultation with the HC.

Also Read: District Lawyers’ Association Observes Sambalpur Bandh Over Permanent HC Bench

Notably, the Supreme Court directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to cancel the licence of striking lawyers on November 28 and asked the administration to make arrangements to prevent lawyers from obstructing the working of the court.

On November 14, the apex court came down heavily on the striking lawyers and directed them to resume work by November 16 after Orissa High Court filed a petition, stating that 2,14,176 judicial working hours were lost due to the strikes between January 1, 2022, and September 30, 2022.