Police arrest 17 lawyers for humiliating Sambalpur District judge

Sambalpur: The Sambalpur police have arrested 17 advocates from different places including two from the court area on the charge of humiliating the district judge and ransacking his official chamber on Monday.
Sambalpur SP B Gangadhar said, “although we have arrested 17 advocates so far, the number

may increase further”.
He said all the arrests were made based on the evidence only and appealed to people to respect the law of the land and the Apex Court of the country as part of healthy and democratic practices.
After a hurly-burly situation on Monday following the violence, the Kachery area of the town bore a deserted look on Tuesday. Heavy deployment of police forces was made to maintain law and order.
The agitating advocates did not turn up in large numbers to avert untoward situations.
A three-layer police deployment has been made in the court premises including major chowks and entry points of the city.
Besides Sambalpur SP, Sonepur SP Amaresh Panda and Addl SP Tapan Mohanty were seen monitoring the situation at Kachery Chowk (Nelson Mandela Chowk).
Many senior officers of the Northern Range of Police and a few from the whole of the state were also present on Tuesday to ensure the law-and-order situation in the court premises and the normal functioning of the court.
The administration has clamped prohibitory orders under 144 Cr. Pc banning gatherings near the court.
Police were on full alert as the news spread that advocates will come to the rally to the court to protest the arrest of their colleagues but this did not happen.
Local action apart, the Bar Council of India (BCI) suspended the licenses of 29 advocates for 18 months for indulging in indiscipline activities on Monday inside the court area and the chamber of the district judge Manas Ranjan Barik.
The action of the Bar Council of India has evoked a sharp reaction among the advocates with lawyers from the state capital extending support to their Sambalpur counterparts and describing the action of BCI as ‘one sided’. (UNI)