The agitation by the lawyers of both western and southern Odisha for establishment of permanent Benches of the Orissa High Court is not new, as it is a two-decade-long issue with the Governments both in the State and Centre having almost largely apathetic.
Meanwhile, the lawyers of western Odisha have intensified their agitation led by the Central Action Committee (CAC) of All Western Odisha Bar Association (AWOBA). They held a “Mahabandh” on November 29 and 30 which got tremendous support of people from all walks of life.
Significantly, the on-going agitation has the support of 180 socio-cultural organisations attracting leaders across and farmers. Farmer leader of the region, Debendra Pradhan, has categorically ruled out any compromise on the issue. The agitators have cautioned the Union Government not to test the strength of the lawyers and the public any more in the matter. The CAC has already threatened to continue the strike for an indefinite period.
Obviously, the answer lies with the Union Government since the State has already requested the Centre more than thrice to establish two permanent benches of the Orissa HC, one each in western and southern Odisha and assured to provide the required infrastructure. It has been alleged that the Central Government has reportedly put the matter to cold storage reportedly on the pretext of non availability of HC view/consent with the proposal and non-specification of particular place in western Odisha where the proposed bench is to operate.
Meanwhile, the strike is not getting the backing of all districts of western Odisha as Balangir and Rourkela too are demanding HC bench in their place.
“We want High Court bench in Balangir and we will observe a bandh to press for our demands,” said Balangir Lawyers’ Association president Ashok Mohanty recently. The association has reportedly decided to shut down courts in the district from December 3 to 10 as a mark of protest.
It may be recalled here that, the CAC had staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi over the demand on November 28, 2016, but remained unheeded. Similarly, the judiciary system in western Odisha has been paralyzed since September 5, the district Collectorate has been closed since September 26, and it is estimated that the 15-days long cease work agitation has caused a revenue loss worth Rs 20 crore.
The lawyers have reacted sharply to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s reply to the CM over establishment of a HC bench.
Chairman of the Sambalpur Bar Association Action Committee Pradeep Bohidar recalled that a delegation of lawyers of Western Odisha Bar
Associations had called on the Chief Minister over the demand on August 6 and the CM had then assured that he would write a strongly-worded letter to the Centre and send an expert committee to pursue the matter with the Union Government and accordingly, Patnaik stood to his words. Bahidar felt the delay created was enough.
“It is our do-or-die agitation. We will continue with this till the last,” said Sambalpur District Bar Association president Bijendriya Pradhan.
Some members within the ruling BJP are of the opinion that, in accordance with the recommendations made by the Jaswant Singh led by three member commission, High Court bench is established after due consideration of a complete proposal from the State Government which is to provide infrastructure and meet the expenditure, along with the consent of the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court. The proposal should also have the consent of the Governor of the concerned State.
However, the agitators questioned why cannot both the Center and the State collectively take initiative and become proactive to expedite the consent of the Governor and the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court in the matter.
It may also be mentioned here that, the lawyers of southern Odisha, more particularly of the Ganjam Bar Association, have also been resorting to cease work demanding for a permanent bench of the High Court at Brahmapur for over a decade. The lawyers have been resorting to token strike on the last four days of every month since 2008 in support of their demand. Cases from south Odisha constitute more than 30 per cent of the total cases in Orissa High Court. The geographical spread of south Odisha justifies the need of a HC bench in Brahmapur ,” said former president of Ganjam Bar Association Basant Panda.
It may be recalled here that, the Ganjam Bar Association had given a dawn to dusk bandh call on February 13, on the issue and subsequently had submitted a memorandum to the then Chief Justice of Odisha HC Justice V Gopal Gowda in August, 2011. The Ganjam Bar Association had also taken up a long cease-work agitation for the same demand from December 4, 2007 and continued their historic agitation for 139 days which had also led to lathi charge by the police on agitating lawyers on April 22, 2008. More than 29 lawyers were arrested which ironically brought no relief to the people of southern Odisha. Similarly, the lawyers of undivided Koraput district in the past made a similar demand.
Now it is high time both the Governments at the State and Centre should rise above politics and expedite the process by maintaining proper coordination.
(Prof Panda is a lawyer based in Brahmapur)