Cong seeks Guv’s hand to end judicial logjam in state

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Bhubaneswar: With uncertainty looming large over the ongoing lawyers’ cease-work stir, a delegation of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Sunday met Governor Ganeshi Lal and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention in the issue.
The memorandum stated that though the lawyers have been agitating since August 29 after one of their colleagues was allegedly assaulted by four policemen at a public place August 28, neither the state government nor the police have taken any step to resolve the issue. As a result of this, the judicial mechanism throughout the state has been paralysed and the public at large has been deprived of justice, it added.
“It is pertinent to mention here that judiciary is the third pillar of the Constitution and it is the constitutional entitlement of the state to take appropriate steps for smooth running of the judiciary,” read the memorandum.
It termed the situation as “unfortunate” that even after 65 days of the lawyers’ stir the state government has not taken any step to resolve the ongoing dispute between the police and lawyers.
“Since one of the wings of the constitution has been paralysed, a constitutional crisis has arisen in the state which needs kind interference of your Excellency,” it added.
The Congress further stated that due to the non-functioning of the third pillar, all the jails in the state have been overcrowded and people arrested for petty offences are languishing in prisons.
It urged the Governor to intervene in the matter and direct the state government to settle the ongoing dispute or take appropriate steps for smooth running of judiciary. Earlier, the Orissa High Court Bar Association suspended three lawyers including two office bearers of the Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) legal front for defying the cease-work agitation.
The dismissed lawyers are former High Court Bar Association vice-president Banshidhar Satpathy, and BJD Legal Front convener Milan Kanungo and adviser Asim Amitabh Das.
The High Court Bar Association has also issued a show-cause notice to Odisha State Bar Council Chairman Tahali Charan Mohanty asking why he should not be removed from the lawyers’ body.
“It was unanimously decided in the general body meeting to dismiss the three lawyers for repeatedly trying to sabotage the lawyers’ agitation,” said secretary Satya Brata Mohanty. The resignation letter of Bansidhar Satapathy has been accepted, he added.
The lawyers under the banner of the Bar Association have been on an indefinite strike since August 29 following the alleged assault on a colleague at Nuabazar here on the previous day. They have been demanding arrest of the policemen involved in the assault.