On the second day of their three-day-long cease-work agitation demanding shifting of the Odisha High Court from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar, the lawyers in the capital city on Friday boycotted court works and blocked National Highway-203 near the Bhubaneswar District and Sessions Court here disrupting vehicular movements for several hours.
later, the police court arrested the protesting lawyers. “We will agitate till fulfilment of our legitimate demand. From Monday, we will participate in court works but simultaneously continue the agitation. If situation demands, we will seek support of other bar associations across the State to press our demand,” said Bhubaneswar Bar Association president Santosh Chhoudhury.
He said the then law Minister Narasingha Mishra had on March 8, 1991 informed the State Assembly that in principle the State Government has taken a decision to shift the High Court from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar. “On many occasions, we have appealed the State Government and even made our representation before the Justice CR Pal Commission, which has been set up since March 2008 to assess the feasibility and desirability of establishing a permanent Bench or Circuit Bench of the Odisha High Court anywhere in the State. We have been pressing for our demand time and again and this is the right time to demand shifting of the High Court to the State capital,” added Chhoudhury.
Arguing that in all other parts of the country, High Courts are located in the State capitals with the exception of the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh, the lawyers said shifting of the High Court from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar has been a major demand of the bar association here for a long time. In the early 1990s, the Government had tried to move the High Court to the State capital but had failed.