Boycotted for asking lawyer to sit down,HC judge goes on leave

High Court sources said Mohapatra,though he was not appointed for that case,stood up to clarify a point for a fellow lawyer arguing the case.

When Justice Suresh realised that Mohapatra was not the lawyer in the case,she asked him to sit down.

“It was a hurtful remark as the senior lawyer was only clarifying a point,” said Orissa High Court Bar Association secretary Lalatendu Samantray.

Protesting the “inappropriate behaviour” of the judge,the 3,000-member strong HC Bar Association adopted a resolution on December 15 to boycott the court of Justice Suresh.

Though Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda was trying for rapprochement between the Bar and Bench,Justice Suresh today left for Delhi on a five-day leave.

Orissa High Court Registrar General B K Das tried to play down the “leave”,saying Justice Suresh had planned it earlier. “There is nothing to link the leave and the December 14 incident. But we don’t know if she will extend her leave,” Das told The Indian Express.

This is not the first time that lawyers of Orissa High Court have boycotted a judge’s court. Five years ago,HC lawyers boycotted the then Chief Justice Hanumanthappa.

The boycott of Justice Suresh has come at a time when the High Court Bar Association as well as the State Bar Council and All Orissa Lawyers and Bar Associations have struck work in the evening courts. The Evening Courts Rules entail holding of evening sessions in courts including all kinds of civil,criminal and vigilance cases. The idea is to clear the massive backlog of cases.