Cuttack: Various social organisations and political parties under the banner of 'Paschim Odisha Nagarika Kriyanushtan Committee' staged dharna near the Orissa High Court on Friday demanding setting of a bench in the western part of the State.
During the agitation, a delegation led by social worker and convener of the committee Bhagabat Prasad Nanda met Chief Justice Vineet Saran and submitted a memorandum to press for the demand.
The demand and movement for establishment of the High Court bench in Western Odisha, started six decades back, is no more limited to lawyers, but people from various walks of life have joined the agitation.
Earlier, various bar associations of Western Odisha had a difference in opinion on the location of the High Court bench but it has been resolved and now they have allowed the government to decide to set it up at any place in the region.
In 2013, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had also considered the demands of the people and had sent a proposal to the Union government for bifurcation of the High Court. The then Union law minister (Kapil Sibal) had asked for a report in this regard from the High Court Chief Justice. But no action has been taken on it so far.
The State government had also set up a judicial commission in this regard, which had submitted its report in August, 2014. The findings of the panel, however, have not been made public yet. Lawyers from Western Odisha had also staged a dharna in New Delhi in November 2015 and had apprised Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad about their demands. But the agitation has still not borne any fruit.