HC Bench: life paralysed in 3 districts over lawyers' bandh call

Normal life almost came to a standstill in West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts on Monday following a bandh call given by the Joint Action Committee of Advocates who are demanding the setting up of a High Court Bench between Vijayawada and Guntur.

According to reports coming in, all sections of people in the districts lent their support to the bandh call. All commercial and business establishments remained closed and RTC buses were taken off the roads. Even cinema theatres called off their scheduled noon shows. The lawyers’ call was further boosted with schools and colleges already declaring a holiday for institutions.

Earlier, the Advocates JAC had called for bandh in West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts. However, in view of the cyclone `Jal’ hitting the coastline, the lawyers deferred the agitation in Prakasam and Nellore.

The extent of public support for the bandh call could be gauged by the fact that there were no grumblings heard from commuters over the pulling off of the RTC buses.

However, the public and private sector banks and other government offices functioned, albeit with thin attendance.  

Earlier in the day, agitating lawyers raised slogans against government. They resorted to rasta rokos and formed human chains disrupting traffic on busy circles in Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali, Eluru, Chilkaluripet, Nandigama and other places.

The road blockade protest staged at Nandigama disrupted traffic on Vijayawada-Hyderabad National Highway No 9. The disruption left thousands of vehicles stranded on the road. In Guntur, the agitating lawyers staged rail roko and detained Guntur-Repalle Passenger train.

In Eluru, the lawyers stopped Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu’s convoy and submitted a memorandum to him on the issue. They sought the TDP chief’s support over the issue.

The agitating lawyers also criticized the government for its inaction in delaying the setting up of the Bench and linking it with Srikrishna Commission Report.