Sambalpur: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday requested the Union law and justice minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to expedite the process for setting up benches of Orissa High Court in west and south Odisha.

In a letter to Prasad, Naveen said that establishment of high court benches was necessary to mitigate the inconvenience faced by litigants in west and south Odisha. He reiterated his assurance that the state government would provide adequate resources for establishment of the benches.

"The views of the Orissa High Court on our recommendation have not materialised so far. The state government is aware of the various decisions of the Supreme Court, including the case of Federation of Bar Associations of Karnataka Lawyers," Naveen wrote.

Naveen said that there were adequate justifications for establishment of permanent benches of high court in west and south Odisha and that the state was aware of the recommendations of the Jaswant Singh Commission on the functioning of a high court bench away from its principal seat.

"I had further conveyed the assurance of the state government to provide adequate resources for establishment of the high court benches in these areas," Patnaik said in his letter.

Lawyers affiliated with the Sambalpur District Bar Association resorted to agitation from Wednesday paralysing total functioning of the judicial courts. The lawyers staged a protest at the entrance of the court complex and prevented the judges from entering into the courtrooms.

However, president of the bar association Jitendriya Pradhan expressed happiness over the action of the chief minister and said that they would meet on Thursday to decide their future course of action.#The association had been agitating from Wednesday by paralysing court work and closing down administrative offices in demand of high court benches.

On Wednesday, Pradhan said now that the chief minister has written to the Union law minister to expedite the matter, the association would at least allow functioning of the district administration.

On August 6, a delegation of the Sambalpur District Bar Association met with the chief minister and requested him to write a reminder to the Union law minister on setting up the high court benches. Naveen had assured them that he would "write a strong letter" to take up the matter with the Centre.

The lawyers of west Odisha have been demanding establishment of a high court bench for several decades.