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Buddhadev Bhattacharjee to meet striking lawyers

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee on Thursday agreed to meet the lawyers on Friday, as their strike over the hike in court fees that brought the judicial system in the state to a standstill for the 16th day spilled outdoors with some lawyers staging a rail roko.

Bhattacharjee, in a communication to the Bar Council chairman Amiya Kumar Chatterjee, said he would meet the lawyers, who had said they would call a Bangla bandh as the chief minister was "indifferent" to their grievances.

Chatterjee told newsmen that the communication was in response to the Council's request for discussing the issue and finding a solution.

The Council at its meeting with Bhattacharjee would demand withdrawal or keeping in abeyance the fee hike, which has hit hard common litigants, he said.

The Council members also met Governor Viren J Shah during the day and apprised him of the situation arising out of the fee hike and the resultant cessation of work by nearly 52,000 lawyers across the state in protest.

Chatterjee said they had requested the governor to use his good offices to ask the government to withdraw the hike.

Over 100 lawyers of Ranaghat court staged a rail roko between Ranaghat and Payradanga stations of Eastern Railway's Sealdah division to protest against the hike and disrupted train movement for an hour, ER sources said.

Meanwhile, Jail Minister Biswanath Chowdhury expressed concern that the number of prisoners had almost doubled since they could not secure the services of lawyers to move bail.

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