Parija elected president of Orissa High Court Bar Association

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Sep 11:

Senior lawyer Ashok Kumar Parija has registered a thumping win over his opponent vying for the coveted Orissa High Court Bar Association president’s post held in Odisha’s Cuttack city yesterday.

In the annual elections for various posts of the prestigious bar of the state held on Saturday, Ashok Kumar Parija defeated his nearest rival Jagabandhu Sahu.

“The disadvantaged section of the society is still deprived of the legal services. It is the responsibility of a lawyer to provide legal services to all. I give credit for this win to the lawyers and would work for the development of the young lawyers, especially,” said the newly-elected president Ashok Kumar Parija.

While Parija polled 2060 votes, Sahu managed to garner votes of 945 members in his favour and Monoranjan Mohanty got 610 votes. Senior lawyer and previous president Ashok Kumar Mohapatra polled only 224 votes and stood at fourth position.

Parija would hold the post for a period of one year.

Similarly, Umesh Chandra Behera has been elected as Secretary, Kali Prasanna Mishra as the Vice-President, Dilip Kumar Ray as Joint Secretary, Susmita Patnaik as Assistant Secretary and Karunakara Gaya as Assistant Secretary (Library).

Besides, the lawyers also elected a nine-member executive.

As many as 56 candidates were in the fray in which aound 5,000 lawyers exercised their franchise to pick up their representatives.

The polling began at 8 am and concluded at 2 pm at the conference hall of the Bar Association yesterday.