Sambalpur: Eight more lawyers were arrested on Thursday in connection with the vandalism at the chamber of district judge Manas Barik during the December 13 protest demanding the setting up of a separate bench of the Orissa high court.
President of the District Bar Association Sureshwar Mishra is among those arrested and raids are on to apprehend others involved in the incident, sources said.
Earlier, 17 agitating lawyers were arrested under Sections 147, 341, 323, 353, 332, 506, 186, 188 and 149 of the IPC. The arrests came after the Supreme Court upbraided the Odisha police over its failure to take action against the protesting lawyers, who allegedly ransacked one of the district court premises.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) also continued to act tough and suspended the practice licence of 14 more lawyers, who had allegedly resorted to violence during the agitation, for a period of 18 months. It had earlier suspended all the members of the district bar till further orders and cancelled licence of 29 advocates for 18 months.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court asked the Central Action Committee of the Bar Associations to withdraw the strike unconditionally. The court made it abundantly clear that there is no requirement for creating new benches in a day and age when the use of technology, such as virtual courts and e-filing, is so widespread.
Earlier, the top court had rapped Odisha Police DG and Sambalpur IGP over their failure in handling the lawyers’ strike in the state. “We will deploy Central forces if the Odisha Police is unable to control the situation,” it added.
