Arrest breather for Morcha - HC postpones hearing on bail for three weeks

TT, Calcutta, June 16: Calcutta High Court today directed the CBI not to arrest the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders and activists accused in the Madan Tamang murder case till their anticipatory bail pleas are disposed of.

The high court adjourned the hearing in the anticipatory bail case for three weeks.

A division bench of Justice A.K. Roy and Justice M.M. Banerjee in their interim order directed the CBI to file an affidavit in two weeks stating if it had submitted a comprehensive report on the investigation in the murder case before the Supreme Court.

In an order passed in July 2013, the Supreme Court had put on hold the trial till the CBI submitted a report after conducting a fresh investigation.

The CBI has named Morcha president Bimal Gurung and 22 party leaders and activists in a chargesheet filed in a Calcutta court in May.

ABGL president Madan Tamang was hacked to death in Darjeeling on May 21, 2010, while overseeing preparations for a political meeting by alleged Morcha activists.

Accodring to norms followed by law enofrcing agencies, arrests are never made before a case is disposed of.

"The order is an interim relief for my clients," said lawyer Sayan Dey, who moved the anticipatory bail petitions.

Reacting to the directive, Gurung said in Darjeeling: "I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support. We are innocent and we have full faith in the judiciary. I would appeal to all the people in Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars to maintain peace."

In today's order, the bench said: "In its affidavit, the CBI will also have to state whether it had sought an instruction from the Supreme Court for starting the trial against the accused before the chief judge of the city sessions court in Calcutta."

The high court also said the CBI would have to explain why the agency did not arrest Gurung and the others during the course of the fresh investigation. The case was first investigated by the CID and later taken over by the CBI.

In August 2011, the CBI filed the first chargesheet in which 31 people were named. As the names of Gurung and many other Morcha leaders were not mentioned in the chargesheet, Madan Tamang's widow Bharati Tamang moved the Supreme Court, demanding a fresh investigation by a DIG-level officer of the CBI.

She also sought the transfer of the trial from a Darjeeling fast-track court to any other court in the state. The Supreme Court directed the CBI to conduct a fresh investigation and shifted the trial to Calcutta.

Moving the bail pleas on behalf of Gurung, his wife Asha and party leader Binay Tamang, senior advocate Shekhar Basu said that in its comprehensive report contained in the chargesheet, the CBI had not sought permission from the Supreme Court to arrest his clients.

When the court asked CBI counsel Mohammed Ashraf Ali whether he had any document showing that the investigating agency had already submitted the comprehensive report before the Supreme Court, he replied: "No."

The bench directed him to file an affidavit stating if the comprehensive report had been submitted to the Supreme Court.

At the end of today's hearing, Justice Roy, the senior judge of the bench, called Puspal Paul, the CBI investigating officer of the case, and asked him to file the case diary on the next date of hearing.

Binay Tamang, the assistant secretary of the Morcha, said: "We respect and welcome the ruling of the honourable Calcutta High Court. We have always stated that those named in the CBI chargesheet are innocent. We also pray for a proper investigation. Today's ruling has provided relief to the party. Not only the Darjeeling hills, but also people of the Dooars and Terai are happy."