State bar council throws weight behind striking tribunal

The Bar Council of Orissa has now thrown its weight behind the fortnight-long agitation of SAT bar associations in the state.
Endorsing a resolution of the agitating associations, the Council today requested all lawyers in the state to boycott their respective courts, including that of the High Court on Monday.
Lawyers have been boycotting the tribunal benches across the state in protest ever since the state Cabinet approved a proposal to abolish the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) on September 9.
The SAT in Odisha was established in July 1986 and functioning from four places, including its principal bench from Bhubaneswar.

Speaking to newsmen after an emergent meeting of the Council, its chairman Manas Mohapatra said that the Bar Council has decided to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister on Monday requesting him to take a decision within 15 days to recall the Cabinet decision on SAT.
"If the government does not respond to our request within the stipulated period, the next course of action of the Bar Council of Odisha would be chalked out in an executive body meeting in due course", Mohapatra said.
Mohapatra said it has been unanimously decided that all lawyers in the state, including members of the tribunal bars would resume court work from Tuesday but wear black badges as a mark of protest.

"The lawyers of all the 156 bars in the State will continue to wear black badges until the demand to recall the cabinet decision on abolishing SAT is met", Mohapatra said adding that the bar council was not consulted by the State government before taking the crucial decision on AST.