Judicial work hit in Balasore court over demand for HC bench

Judicial work in Balasore district sessions court was hit today as members of Balasore Bar Association held a cease work demanding a permanent Orissa High Court bench in north Odisha.
Agitating lawyers submitted a memorandum to the chief justice of Orissa High Court through the district collector.
''In the memorandum we have demanded immediate setting up of a high court bench at Balasore taking into consideration the fact that people in the district are suffering a lot, both physically and financially in the absence of it. They have to travel to Cuttack even for small cases,'' said Gopinath Mohanty, a senior advocate and a member of the association.

The Bar Association also demanded immediate appointment of office bearers in at least six posts which are lying vacant in the criminal court here.
''The staff crunch is creating major backlog in the court and we demand immediate appointment of a judicial first class magistrate to dispose those cases, said Mohanty.
Lawyers have warned of intensifying their agitation in the coming days by staging ceasework every Monday and Saturday if the demands are not met with at the earliest.