Sambalpur: The Sambalpur District Bar Association will stage black-flag demonstrations during the visit of Union and state ministers to the district. The members of the association took this decision at a meeting on Tuesday alleging that both the Union and state governments were neglecting the demand for the establishment of a permanent bench of Orissa High court in west Odisha.

"Let it be the chief minister or any other minister of the state or central government, nobody will be spared and will be shown black flags," said president of the association Jitendriya Pradhan.

He said the members of the association had discussed in detail the ongoing agitation by the bar associations in various parts of the west Odisha.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had written two letters to the Union government for establishment of a high court bench. But the association alleged that the state government had not followed up with the Centre on the issue though several years have passed since.

"The state is maintaining silence, while the central government is also not showing any interest to set up the court bench here," said a member of the association.

Naveen had written the first letter to the central government on the issue on September 28, 2013. The then UPA government had sought some clarifications on this account from the state government. Naveen had then replied to the Centre's queries. But, the Centre allegedly did not take the proposal forward.

The lawyers of the west Odisha have been demanding establishment of a bench of the high court for several decades now. The lawyers had also staged a demonstration in front of Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in November 2016 and near the high court in Cuttack to draw the attention of the Union government and the Orissa High Court.