The Supreme Court stated on Monday that it is not possible to have a high court at one’s doorstep, while expressing displeasure with Odisha bar association members who are protesting for a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court in western Odisha.
The Supreme Court stated that it expects the Bar Council of India (BCI) to take appropriate action, including licence suspension.
A bench comprising Justices S.K. Kaul and A.S. Oka said, every district wants high court benches? Noting that Odisha is a big state, the bench added that district judiciary can be at doorstep but it is not possible to have a high court at “your doorstep”. “It cannot be done,” said the bench.
Protesting lawyers have called for the establishment of a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court in western Odisha.
The High Court’s registrar general stated in a supplementary affidavit that the agitation and picketing continued in some areas of the state. The Supreme Court stated that court work must continue and that the behaviour of lawyers is intolerable, as it has disrupted the operation of district courts.
The bench said, “If leaders of the bar associations in Odisha seek to invite action, we will have to oblige them.”
The bench also stated that it expects the BCI to take appropriate action against members of the various bar associations, and that their licences will be suspended at least until work resumes.
The matter will be heard again by the Supreme Court on December 12.
On November 14, the Supreme Court said it could initiate contempt proceedings or suspend the licences of striking members of Odisha’s bar associations in several districts if they did not return to work by November 16.
The Supreme Court was hearing the High Court’s registrar general application, which claimed that the absence of members of bar associations in several districts has seriously hampered judicial work in the state’s subordinate courts.
Prasanta Patnaik