Ashok Kumar Parija, the advocate-general of Odisha, on Wednesday appeared before a division bench of Calcutta High Court and denied that Bengali-speaking people were either heckled or tortured in the neighbouring state.

"Bengalis are our friends forever. We respect Bengalis. Bengalis staying in Odisha are respected like our parents, brothers and sisters. We can never ever think of disrespecting them," Parija told the bench:

After hearing Parija, the bench led by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty asked him to file an affidavit within a week stating the details of what he had submitted before the court.

The division bench decided to hear the matter again after two weeks.

The Odisha advocate-general made his submissions while opposing the allegations made by the Bengal government's counsel Kalyan Banerjee, who claimed that "like in other states, the Bengalis are being subjected to torture by Odisha police".

"We are very much concerned about migrant labourers staying in Odisha," Banerjee said.

In reply, Parija said: "The friendship between Bengalis and people of Odisha is unbreakable. Many people belonging to our state have been staying in Bengal, particularly in Calcutta."

Advocate Raghunath Chakravarty had appeared before the court on behalf of migrant labourers from Bengal, claiming that Bengali-speaking workers were being harassed by the Odisha police.

After hearing the plea, the division bench had asked Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant to depute an officer not below the rank of a secretary and ask him to contact the Odisha government immediately.