New Delhi: The Supreme Court, the highest court of the country, today (Monday) strongly criticized the striking lawyers of Odisha and ordered them to resume regular work from next Wednesday (November 16). It has also warned that lawyers who fail to do so will be charged with contempt of court and have their licenses canceled by the Bar Council.
“We don’t care if you all lose your source of employment, but the public should not suffer like this,” Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, who is hearing the case, told the agitating lawyers.
Notably, the Supreme Court today heard the case of the lawyers in various courts of Odisha who had repeatedly staged a court boycott demanding the establishment of a permanent bench of the High Court in West Odisha. On behalf of the Odisha High Court, standing counsel Shivshankar Mishra filed a 68-page petition in the Supreme Court alleging violation of the promise given to the apex court by the members of the Bar Association of West Odisha and various districts of Odisha to attend the court proceedings.
Standing Counsel Mishra presented the case in the bench of outgoing Chief Justice U U Lalit on last 2nd and drew the attention of the jury to seek clarification from the members of the Bar Association regarding the violation of the promise given to the court. While mentioning this issue, he informed the court that the court was being abandoned by lawyers in various courts of the state including the court of the Chief Justice of Odisha High Court. The Chief Justice ordered that the impugned case be listed for hearing on November 14.