Odisha lawyers boycott courts to demand justice for slain advocate Pitabas Panda

Lawyers across Odisha boycotted courts to protest the murder of senior advocate Pitabas Panda in Berhampur. The Bar Council of India has demanded a Special Investigation Team probe, while state authorities work to track the suspected professional killers.

Bhubaneswar: Lawyers across Odisha on Wednesday abstained from court work to protest the brutal murder of senior advocate and State Bar Council (SBC) member Pitabas Panda in Berhampur two days ago.

The lawyers’ agitation call was given by Odisha State Bar Council, which was observed by all bar associations across the state, demanding justice for Panda, also a senior BJP leader.

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Stating that Panda was elected to the State Bar Council with the highest number of votes, SBC president Sitanshu Mohan Dwivedi demanded immediate arrest of culprits, adequate compensation to the victim’s family, a high-level inquiry into the incident and implementation of the Advocate Protection Act.

Panda (50) was shot dead by two unknown bike-borne miscreants while he was standing near his house at Brahma Nagar area of Berhampur town on Monday night. He sustained a bullet injury on right chest and was declared dead by doctors of MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur.

The state bar council also urged the state government, the DGP and all concerned authorities to deal with the incident with utmost urgency.

While the members of Orissa High Court Bar Council held a rally demanding justice for Panda and submitted a memorandum to Cuttack District Collector, the Bhubaneswar Bar Association lawyers also held a dharna in front of the district and sessions judge court here and refrained from joining court work.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik and other political parties have strongly condemned the incident and condoled the death of Panda. The chief minister has instructed the police to ensure exemplary punishment for the culprits involved in the incident.

Meanwhile, Bar Council of India (BCI) has also expressed deep concern over the murder of Pitabas Panda. BCI president Manan Kumar Mishra demanded the immediate formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident.

The BCI sought an impartial and transparent investigation and urged authorities to complete the probe in a time-bound manner, with the prompt arrest of all perpetrators, conspirators, and facilitators, and recovery of weapons and digital evidence related to the crime.

Mishra said the safety and dignity of advocates are non-negotiable.

The BCI has written a letter to Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, and DGP Y B Khurania seeking the formation of an SIT headed by a senior IPS officer.

Though about 30 hours have already passed since the murder took place, the police have no clue regarding the killers, said advocate Sushant Kumar Rath, a member of the Bhubaneswar Bar Association.

Police sources said that a 9 mm pistol was used in the murder of Panda after a ballistic examination of the cartridge cases recovered from the murder spot.

Berhampur police have formed six separate teams to identify and nab the killers, who were suspected to be professional criminals.