Cuttack/Sambalpur, Aug. 23: Gadadhar Sahu had hoped that a clear picture would emerge today on the steps taken by the government for eviction of unauthorised occupants inside the VSS Medical College Hospital campus in Sambalpur.

But the lawyers at the Orissa High Court had ceased work in protest against the lawyers’ agitation in Sambalpur and elsewhere for a separate bench of the high court in western Odisha.

Secretary of the Bar Association Janmejaya Katikiya said that the cease work at the high court was a token protest against “the throttling of the democratic process of election to the urban local bodies because of the ongoing agitation in western Odisha.” The agitation in western Odisha “is an undemocratic move.”

In a related development, the Central Action Committee of the Western Odisha Bar Associations today agreed to hold a discussion with chief minister Naveen Patnaik tomorrow in the capital city.

“A 23-member delegation of the association will attend the meeting,” said convener of the Central Action Committee Ashok Dash.

Incidentally, the delegation will not include representatives from Balangir and Rourkela as the two bar associations have also stepped up their demands for the separate bench being located in their respective areas.

Lawyers of 11 districts in Western Odisha have ceased work and have prevented district administration to function for the last three days.

“Our agitation will continue. We hope that our demand will not be denied on the pretext of model code of conduct being enforced for urban polls,” said Dash, who will lead the delegation.

The state government offices and courts continue to remain paralysed in the region because of the agitation. The filing of nomination could not take place for the fourth consecutive day in Sambalpur. Similar situation prevailed in Deogarh, Bargarh and Jharsuguda districts also.

Lawyers of Balasore today boycotted the courts for the second day today in support of their demand for a separate high court bench for the five districts of northern Odisha.

In Cuttack, lawyers disrupted court proceedings due to the cease work. The court could not take up the case related to appointment of doctors in public health centres and community health centres.

Three petitions seeking intervention against inadequacies in infrastructure and lack of doctors in the three medical college hospitals and peripheral areas were taken up for analogous hearing.