Lawyers protest CBI 'raid by mistake' on Odisha Judge's house

The Orissa High Court Bar Association on Wednesday went on a strike in protest against a CBI raid conducted by "mistake" at the official residence of a High Court Judge the previous night and demanded action against the erring officials.

The lawyers have stopped work till Thursday afternoon and demanded a high-level judicial probe into the incident.

The association called an extraordinary General Body Meeting in Cuttack on Wednesday and later met the High Court Chief Justice to apprise him of their disapproval of the raid at Judge C.R. Dash's residence in the Cantonment Road area in Cuttack.

"We demand a judicial inquiry. We don't have faith in either Odisha Police or central agencies. We want the matter be inquired by a sitting judge of the High Court or the Supreme Court," said Orissa High Court Bar Association Vice President Kaliprasad Mishra.

He demanded strict action should be taken against the erring officials who entered the house of the judge.

The CBI officials should be suspended and both departmental and criminal proceedings should initiated against them, he added.

Informed sources said that the Central Bureau of Investigation officials were to raid the house of a retired High Court Judge but entered the wrong premises by mistake on Tuesday night.

Their entry was resisted by security personnel on duty at Justice Dash's residence. As they were trying to gain entry to the house, a Police Control Room van passing by detained them and took them to the area police station.

Later, the CBI officials were released after they disclosed their identity, the sources added.

--IANS

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