The Central Action Committee (CAC) of the lawyers of western Odisha on Sunday announced postponement of their prolonged agitation following Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s writing to a letter to Union law Minister Kapil Sibal recommending for establishment of High Court Benches in both southern and western Odisha.
The CAC, which met at Boudh on Sunday, decided to withdraw its cease-work stir and allow Government offices to function normally. “But we will boycott the courts and stick to usual cease-works in the last three days of every month till a HC Bench comes into existence,” informed Sureswar Mishra of the CAC.
However, confusion prevailed over the locations of the recommended HC Benches in the two regions. The Kalahandi Bar Association, which is part of the western Odisha lawyers’ fraternity, demanded that region’s Bench at Bhawanipatna in view of speculations that Sambalpur would perhaps be its location.
Similarly, the bar associations of Ganjam and Gajapati districts demand the Southern Odisha HC Bench’s location at Brahmapur while their counterparts of the undivided Koraput district, also belonging to the southern region, are agitating for its location in their area.
To add to the confusion further, the lawyers of Rourkela in the western region and those of Balangir, also in this region, have been demanding HC Benches in their respective towns.