The much-awaited talks between the State Government and the delegation of the Central Action Committee (CAC) of the all bar associations of western Odisha on the demand for establishment of a permanent Bench of the Odisha High Court in the western region on Saturday failed to resolve the stalemate.
The CAC also rejected CM Naveen Patnaik’s appeal to it to call off the agitation. The CM, who was present during the talks, had told the CAC that his Govt would make recommendation to the Centre on the issue at the earliest. “Talks failed,” said CAC convenor Ashok Das after the one-hour-long meeting with the Government, adding, “We simply reject the CM’s contention as he didn’t give any time-bound and categorical assurance relating to the demand for a High Court Bench in western Odisha.”
Das had led a 23-member delegation of the CAC for the dialogue at the State Secretariat on the invitation of Patnaik. CAC demanded that the Justice Pal Commission — constituted to look into the possibility of establishment of a High Court Bench in western Odisha — be scrapped immediately and the Government issue notification after passing resolution in the Assembly to recommend to the Union law Ministry. The Pal Commission is nothing but wastage of public money as it has failed to hold even one sitting or to invite petition on the issue, said CAC secretary Niranjan Tripathy, adding that the constitution of the Pal Commission is aimed at delaying the issue.
Announcing that the agitation would be intensified further in the coming days, Das said the Chief Minister’s “prepared” statement at the meeting was full of contractions and “We are not satisfied.” later, the Chief Minister made a statement in the State Assembly on the meeting with the lawyers but did not say anything about the outcome of the deliberation which was also attended by law Minister Maheswar Mohanty, two senior Ministers belonging to western Odisha Finance Minister Prasanna Acharya and Industries Minister Niranjan Pujari, Chief Secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, law Secretary and other senior officials.
On the demand for making recommendation on the issue directly to the Central Government, the Chief Minister said the State Government has been quite clear in its mind that “We must have HC Benches in western and other parts of Odisha.” However, he said his Government would make the recommendation to the Centre in consultation with Constitutional experts.
He said the direct recommendation to the Centre is not linked to the submission of the report by the Pal Commission. “The recommendation can be sent even before that,” he said. Patnaik said the panel would examine the issue on the basis of the Justice Jaswant Singh Commission report and make its recommendation. The Govt has decided to request the Pal Commission to submit its report within 60 days to enable a positive decision, he said. Patnaik said, “The Government is sensitive to the demand” and has, in fact, recommended the case for having Benches in western and southern Odisha several times to High Court.