The longstanding demand for establishment of a permanent Bench of the Orissa High Court at Brahmapur has been intensified further since Wednesday with members of the Ganjam Bar Association resorting to a four-day-long Satyagraha in the court premises here.
The lawyers demand a permanent HC Bench at the soonest at Berhampur, which is the nerve centre of all activities in south Odisha. They urge the Government to intervene in the matter and take necessary steps to meet their demand since Brahmapur fulfils all the criteria to have a HC Bench.
They decry the Government’s apathy in the matter. The Satyagraha is led by Ganjam Bar Association president Janardan Subudhi. Since last two decades, the advocates have been agitating in different forms and resorting to cease-work in courts in the last of four days of every month since then in support of their demand.
Subudhi told mediapersons that if a High Court Bench is established at Brahmapur, the people of south Odisha, more particularly poor people of rural areas, would be immensely benefited in terms of both cost and time.
Among others, Ganjam Bar Association secretary Pradeep Kumar Behera, vice-president P Bhagirathi Rao, joint secretary Sudhir Kumar Patra; senior advocates Sudhansu Panda, Sisir K Padhi, Deepak K Pattnaik, Mohan Singari, Kapileswar Pattanik, Manoj Pattnaik, Kunal Sahu, Bansidhar Palo, RP Panigrahi, PC Hota, Asit Sabat, Nirmal Sahu, Ashoak Shukla, Sanjay Mishra, Akshya Pattnaik, Barun Gouda and Karunakar Panigrahi have joined the Satyagraha.