Cuttack, July 12: Legal proceedings remained paralysed for the second day today in Orissa High Court and all other subordinate courts of the state as lawyers continued to abstain from work in a show of protest against the Centre’s proposal to regulate legal studies through the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011.

Legal procedures continued to be disrupted and litigants were affected as no lawyer pleaded any case.

Around 490 cases, listed before different benches of the high court during the two days (including 180 today), could not be taken up for hearing because of the lawyers’ protest. Several leftover cases from the weekly list drawn up on Monday also went without hearing.

“We have not attended court work in response to the nation-wide strike call given by the Bar Council of India on July 11 and 12 to protest against the central government’s interference in the country’s legal education through the recently introduced Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011,” said Piyush Mishra, secretary of Orissa High Court Bar Association. “The lawyers of all the 142 bar associations across Odisha took part in the protest today by abstaining from work as part of the nation-wide agitation,” said Gopal Krushna Mohanty, chairman of the Odisha State Bar Council (OSBC).

In Cuttack, the criminal court bar, civil court bar, board of revenue bar association, state administrative tribunal bar and consumer redressal commission also continued with the ceasework.

“The bill is being opposed as it affects the vital and basic structures of the Advocates Act, 1961, which gives total autonomy and independence to the Bar Council of India and the state bar councils to regulate legal profession and legal education by working with various universities,” said the OSBC secretary.

The Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011, proposes the constitution of a national commission to take care of legal education in the country.