The agitation by lawyers here in support of establishment of a permanent Bench of the Odisha High Court at Brahmapur is gaining momentum. The lawyers’ Action Committee at its meeting held on Tuesday unanimously decided to intensify the agitation.
The Ganjam Bar Association informed this decision to all its members with an appeal to remain present on preordained dates to make the agitation successful. Former president of the association and senior most advocate Sachi Rath presided over the meeting of the Action Committee.
The Action Committee decided to associate senior citizens and different institutions of this region in the agitation, said committee member Pradip Panda. All bar associations of Ganjam district have already been informed about the decision, Panda added.
The members of the Ganjam Bar would meet at the association office on Thursday to participate in a rally in favour of the demands, sources said.
The Ganjam Bar Association has been demanding establishment of a permanent Bench of the High Court at Brahmapur since 2008 and since then the courts at Brahmapur have been made defunct for 148 days due to agitations from time to time.
In the last round of the agitation held in April last year, the police had arrested 29 lawyers, including former Bar Council member Deepak Pattnaik and Pradeep Behera and forwarded them to court and they stayed seven days in jail.
Since then, the Ganjam Bar Association is observing April 22 as the Black Day and boycotting court works on the last four days of every month as a token of their protest.
Among others who attended Tuesday’s crucial meeting included former association president Sisir Padhi, senior advocate Bhagaban Sahu and Sudhansu Panda.