Calcutta High Court directs West Bengal govt to ensure normal life in Darjeeling

PTI | Kolkata | June 16, 2017: The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the West Bengal government to take steps to restore peace and normalcy in unrest-hit Darjeeling hills where a shutdown has been called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha. The directions were passed by a division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Nishita Mhatre and Justice T Chakraborty. The bench passed the directions while reiterating earlier orders of the Supreme Court and of the Calcutta High Court that bandh or general strikes are illegal.

Acting on a petition filed by a lawyer, the bench directed the state government to submit a report on the situation in the hills after two weeks, when the matter will come up for hearing again. The bench also directed the state to make an estimate of the loss of government and private property due to the agitation.

It asked petitioner Ramaprasad Sarkar to serve notice to GJM chief Bimal Gurung and party general secretary Roshan Giri, who are respondents in the petition. Violence erupted in Darjeeling during an agitation by GJM on June nine when a cabinet meeting was being held at the Raj Bhawan there.

The hills have been restive since then and incidents of violence and arson have been reported from Darjeeling town and some other places in the hills.

ANI, Kolkata , June 16 : The Calcutta High Court on Friday asked the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) representatives to appear on June 23.

The GJM has been leading a violent agitation in Darjeeling against mandatory teaching of Bengali in government schools.

The court also asked the West Bengal Government to submit an interim report on the amount of damage caused by the GJM protest.

Principal Secretary Sanjay Mitra has been asked to submit the report within two days.

Meanwhile, violence continues to erupt in Darjeeling where state transport has been badly hit by the strike called by the GJM.

Police on Thursday recovered a cache of arms, arrows and cash during raids conducted at various GJM locations.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is monitoring the situation in Darjeeling.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the state government of alienating the Gorkha community and creating in them an identity crisis.

As many as six parties including the GJM and the BJP have adopted a resolution for a separate Gorkhaland state.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has branded the GJM protest as 'abhorrent' and appealed to the people of the region to maintain peace. 

KalimNews: The PIL was filed against the strike called by GJM on 9th June. The bench also reiterated that the order passed by Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi of High court on 7 August 2013 regarding bundh called by GJM also stands effective. It stated that the strike called by GJM in hills is illegal. It also stated that the strike called forcibly and by threat is illegal.
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) had moved the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court order declaring its ongoing shutdown in West Bengal's Darjeeling hill as illegal and unconstitutional. State government counsel Ashok Banerjee told the court that an economic loss of Rs.69 crore was caused due to the shutdown.Claiming that the "bandh" (shutdown) was still continuing in the hills under different names, the government lawyer accused the GJM of going against the court's order.It also issued a show cause notice to the Gorkha outfit asking why it should not be made to pay compensation for the economic loss incurred due to the shutdown.

Similar order was passed by the High Court on 12 September 2016.