Odisha High Court Chief Justice AK Goel has invited the Balangir Bar Association (BBA) for discussions in Cuttack on November 4 on the its demand for establishment of a HC Bench at Balangir.
The BBA has given a call for boycott of municipal elections at Balangir to press for its HC Bench demand. The BBA has decided that its members would continue their cease-work agitation till the Justice CR Pal Commission submits its report on the issue of setting up of HC Benches in different regions of the State.
Significantly, the lawyers of Balangir, a western Odisha district, have refused to be linked to the Sambalpur-based Central Action Committee of lawyers which has been spearheading an agitation for months to press for a HC Bench in the region.
Though the CAC has withdrawn its strike following a letter of recommendation written by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to Union law Minister Kapil Sibal for establishment of HC Benches in western and southern Odisha, the Balangir lawyers have pointed out that such a vague recommendation is meaningless, merely a political gimmick. A HC Bench used to function at Balangir during the 1940s and hence, any move to establish a Bench should accord precedence to Balangir, they argue.
The movement involving the western districts appears to be divided over location of the HC Bench. Kalahandi and Sundargarh lawyers have also staked their claim for HC Bench in their respective areas.
So have Sambalpur and Sundergarh districts.
Besides, the HC lawyers based in Cuttack are highly critical about the Chief Minister’s letter to the Centre for steps to set up HC Benches anywhere in the southern and western regions.
Sibal on the other hand has termed the CM’s recommendation as “incomplete” as it was not endorsed by the State Chief Justice and, accordingly, the Union law Minister has sent back the recommendation to the Odisha Chief Justice seeking his views on the issue.