Shedding differences over location of the proposed High Court Bench, lawyers of Balangir District Bar Association expressed solidarity with their Sambalpur counterparts here on Thursday. The team was here to stage a dharna in front of the IG (NR) office demanding arrest of the Sambalpur Collector Mrinalini Darswal.
The dharna comes a day after Jharsuguda District Bar Association observed the bandh. The Balangir delegation comprised two former presidents of the association, Jagannath Acharya and Gopal Chandra Panigrahi. They said the dharna was to express solidarity with the lawyers of SDBA who were misbehaved by the District Collector on April 23.
They would join the ongoing fight for justice and extended their support to the Western Odisha Bandh Call on May 8. However, they appealed to exempt train services from the bandh. Besides lawyers from Balangir, a delegation from Phulbani Bar Association led by its president Lambodhar Kanhar also called on the members of SDBA and promised their support. Meanwhile, bar associations across Western Odisha have resorted to cease work which will continue till May 7 before they join the Western Odisha bandh the following day. The lawyers are expected to chart out their? future course of action after the bandh which aims at building pressure on the Government to shunt out the District Collector.
On the other hand, women members of Paschim Odisha Dalit Surakhya Parishad submitted a memorandum, addressed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, to the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (ND) on Thursday. They expressed anguish at a woman being manhandled and abused by men on the road even as police stood as mute spectators.
