CM assures lawyers of writing to Centre

Reiterating their demand of establishment of a permanent Bench of the Orissa High Court in western Odisha, a delegation of lawyers from the region met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat here on Monday.

The delegation led by MLAs Raseswari Panigrahi, Rohit Pujari and senior members of the Central Action Committee (CAC) of western Odisha lawyers presented their longstanding demands.

“The Chief Minister assured us that he would write another strong letter to the Centre. However, we demanded that a delegation of the State Government should visit New Delhi and talk to the Centre,” CAC convenor Ashok Das said.

The MPs from the State should make a united effort to ensure that a Bill on establishment on a permanent HC Bench in western Odisha is passed in the Parliament this Monsoon Session, said CAC spokesperson Sureswar Mishra . Reacting to the development, Balangir district bar association president Ashok Mohanty  said the Centre is dillydallying on the issue by pointing out that applications by the State Government were being filed in the “wrong format”.

“When Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya questioned about the demand for the permanent bench of the High Court in western Odisha in the Upper House, Union Minister of State for Law PP Choudhury said that the State had presented the demands in a wrong format.”

“However, we believe that the State Government has applied in the correct format. Rather, it is the Centre which is adopting a delaying tactics to avoid setting up of the bench,” Mohanty said.

Notably, the Chief Minister has written a number of letters to the Centre demanding setting up of a HC Bench in western Odisha over several years.