Lawyers in western Odisha to continue their

The agitating lawyers of western Odisha Friday resolved to continue their over three-month-long stir for a high court bench and to hold a three-day long economic blockade in January to press for the demand, sources in their bar association said.

The lawyers have been on cease work over the demand since September 5.

The agitation has paralysed the functioning of the judicial and revenue courts in the region.

The decision on the economic blockade was taken in the meeting of the Central Action Committee(CAC) of All Western Odisha Bar Association at Birmaharajpur in Sonepur district.

CAC spokesman Sureswar Mishra said that the economic blockade would tentatively begin on January 7 and its modalities would be decided by the bar associations of Sambalpur, Jharusguda, Sundergarh and Deogarh districts, where industrial houses and mines are located.

The lawyers had paralysed the functioning of the state and central government offices on November 12 to intensify the stir and had also observed a 48-hour-long 'mahabandh' in the region on November 29 and 30.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written to the Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for the high court bench in western and southern Odisha on September 5.

Prasad wrote back on September 10 seeking a comprehensive proposal with the the consent of the chief justice of the Odisha high court for establishment of the bench.

With each of the western districts demanding the HC bench, the state government is yet to reply to the state.