Orissa HC Orders CB Probe Into Lawyers-Police Fracas

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday ordered a Crime Branch (CB) investigation into the ongoing tussle between police personnel and lawyers following the attack on a lawyer on August 28.

Hearing the two petitions filed by Orissa High Court Bar Association and Nationalist Lawyers’ Association, the high court directed the state investigating agency to conduct a thorough probe into the incident to reveal thee facts.

Both the associations had prayed the court for an inquiry by a sitting judge and arrest of the erring police personnel.

According to sources, a DSP-rank officer will investigate the incident. The next hearing of the case will be held on Monday.

On Monday, members of Orissa High Court Bar Association had decided to continue their ongoing strike to protest against the alleged assault on a lawyer at Nua Bazaar here. The future course of action will be decided after another meeting scheduled to be convened on September 5, members said.

On August 30, members of the association had resorted to a cease-work stir protesting against the August 28 incident.

The Commissionerate Police had suspended three personnel, including two constables and a havildar, for excesses the same day.

The members of Bhubaneswar Bar Association had also staged a road blockade by burning tyres in front of the SDJM court here, disrupting vehicular movement on Bhubaneswar-Puri road demanding immediate action against the police personnel.

The Cuttack Bar Association members too had followed suit. A group of agitating lawyers had allegedly set a PCR van on fire during the agitation in front of the RDC office in Cuttack.