Sambalpur Court Violence: Orissa HC Lawyers On Hunger Strike For Hearing Of Bail Pleas

Cuttack: Some lawyers of Orissa High Court on Saturday sat on a hunger strike demanding hearing of bail applications of their counterparts of Sambalpur who have been arrested in connection with the incident of courtroom violence.

The lawyers, who started the hunger strike on the high court premises from the morning, said they would continue their agitation till their demand is fulfilled.

Speaking to media persons, they alleged that the arrested lawyers of Sambalpur have been deprived of getting justice from the courts. “The principle of justice to all is not followed in case of these layers. Though they can get bail from the sessions court, they have been deprived of it. The high court is also not hearing their bail applications,” they said.

The lawyers including Dipali Mohapatra, Sarathi Nayak and Dilip Ray said they resorted to peaceful agitation as no court was hearing the bail petitions of the arrested lawyers. They would sit on hunger strike from 8 am to 4 pm everyday till the case is heard by the courts, they added.

It may be noted that around 25 lawyers were arrested for the vandalism in the chamber of district judge Manas Barik during a protest demanding setting up of a separate bench of the Orissa High Court on December 13 last year.

Following the incident, the Bar Council of India (BCI) had suspended the licences of all members of the Sambalpur District Bar Association. Later, it had restored the licenses of some Bar members.