Notwithstanding the pending contempt case in the Full Bench of the High Court with regard to the frequent strikes by the lawyers in the State, members of the Orissa High Court Bar Association (OHCBA) on Wednesday unanimously decided to abstain from court activities till Monday next.
The lawyers are protesting against the selection of a New Delhi-based Odia advocate as a judge of the High Court. According to sources, lawyers appearing in about half-a-dozen other lower courts and tribunals in the city will also boycott their respective courts till Monday.
The High Court’s Full Bench comprising all the 14 judges, which had earlier issued notices to at least 68 Bar associations of the State, including the OHCBA, and the Odisha State Bar Council on Tuesday in connection with the contempt case, is also scheduled to meet again and hear the case on Monday too.
Meanwhile, the OHCBA, the apex body of lawyers in the State, has convened a meeting of the executive bodies of the entire 68 Bar associations on October 18 here to discuss about the contempt case that was suo motu taken up by the High Court’s Full Bench.
A Press release issued by the OHCBA on Wednesday further said that the lawyers of entire State would remain absent from their respective courts on October 18. “A panel of senior lawyers will be formed to deal with the contempt proceedings by the Full Bench of the High Court,” the release said.
Besides, the general body of the OHCBA also decided that a delegation of lawyers would go to Bhubaneswar on Thursday to meet Law Minister Pratap Jena and apprise him about the ongoing developments arising due to vacant positions of judges in the High Court.