Members of Sambalpur District Bar Association stage a demonstration on Tuesday. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, June 28: From bandh to hour-long shutdown, the district witnessed it all today.

To press for a permanent high court bench in the region, the Sambalpur District Bar Association had called for a bandh of state government offices. To ensure that their voice is heard, lawyers closed offices of the collector, revenue divisional commissioner and other state government institutions. Apart from picketing at the Nelson Mandela Square in the Silk City, they stopped the entry of judicial officials into court premises.

“We have been protesting on the last three days of the month for two years. But this time, we have decided to launch an economic blockade on July 30. We have called for a bandh of all banks and the financial institutions in the state government on July 29 and the next day we will enforce an economic blockade. On July 30, we will block all vehicles carrying goods for factories and industries surrounding Sambalpur. The economic blockade will be for 12 hours,” said Pramod Rath, president of Sambalpur Bar Association.

“We will intensify the agitation if the government does not fulfil our demand. We may resort to economic blockade for an indefinite period if our demands are not met,” Rath added.

“The Pal commission was set up by the state government two years ago and the commission was supposed to look into the demand for a high court bench and submit a report within six months. But it is yet to submit its report,” Rath said.

“The government has already spent more than Rs 31 lakh for the commission. It is a complete misuse of public fund. Now, we want the commission to submit the report as soon as possible,” he said.

If the lawyers were up in arms, so were activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing. To protest against the recent hike in petrol prices, activists of the Bharatiya Yuva Morcha forced closure of petrol pumps for an hour in the district. Yuva Morcha activists also staged a protest at Golebazar Chowk in the city against the rise in the prices of diesel and cooking gas.

“If the government does not roll back the prices, we will intensify our agitation throughout the state,” said Deokiran Patnaik, president of the outfit’s Sambalpur district unit.