Shimla, June 3 -- Long traffic snarls were reported in the city following a protest by the advocates against recent restrictions barring them from using sealed and restricted roads without a permit. The protest coincided with the ongoing peak tourist season thus further aggravating congestion. Queues of vehicles were seen in the congestion that lasted for around 2-3 hours. The lawyers were enraged after being stopped from driving on the sealed road without permit from Chotta Shimla to high court and further on to lift. The situation aggravated after an argument broke between sub-divisional magistrate Oshin Sharma had advocates. It is pertinent to note that the movement of vehicles without a valid permit is strictly prohibited on Shimla's sealed roads. Only vehicles possessing the necessary permits are authorised to access and traverse these designated roads. Until now, HC advocates had been commuting without a permit, however, obtaining a permit has now been made mandatory for them as well, causing outrage among the legal fraternity. Upset over being barred from using the sealed road without a valid permit, the lawyers stopped several vehicles on the road and checked whether they possessed the requisite permits. Whenever a vehicle was found plying without a valid permit, the lawyers insisted that the police issue a challan. Shimla police in a statement said that traffic movement on the road near the secretariat, Chhota Shimla, was disrupted due to a sit-in protest being staged by advocates. The police diverted vehicles via an alternative route. Later, the lawyers staged a protest outside the state secretariat for over two hours, disrupting traffic movement on the Circular Road. The protest was called off only after chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu met the lawyers and assured them that a mechanism would be worked out to facilitate their use of the sealed road. Police have registered a case against a group of protesters for allegedly entering the restricted Secretariat area in Shimlawithout permission and disrupting traffic movement, officials said....