Bimal may travel to Siliguri today ..... Tamang says SC order has closed doors for him

SNS, SILIGURI/ DARJERING, 3 APRIL 2019: Amid talk in the town and at various social networking sites that fugitive leader of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha, Bimal Gurung, will return to the region tomorrow, leader of another faction of the Morcha in Darjeeling, Binoy Tamang, earlier today said that Mr Gurung will not be able to return to the Hills as the Supreme Court had dismissed his relief plea, along with that of other Morcha leaders. According to him, the apex court has asked the leaders to instead approach the Calcutta High Court for relief.

While a PTI report filed from Delhi said that the Supreme Court today asked Morcha leaders Roshan Giri and Mr Gurung, who are seeking protection to participate in campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, to approach the Calcutta High Court within four days for the relief, a top source said Mr Gurung will actually arrive at the Bagdogra Airport at 1 PM tomorrow.

The PTI report, meanwhile, said that a bench of Justices Arun Mishra, M M Shantanagoudar and Navin Sinha has said that no coercive action should be taken against the leaders till then.

Later in the evening, the spokesperson for the Gurung camp of the Morcha, BP Bajgain, posted a video on Face-book, confirming Mr Gurjng and his team's return tomorrow, even as he urged supporters to go to the Bagdogra Airport in Siliguri to welcome the leader.

"A meeting was held in Delhi in the evening today, where it was decided that Bimal Gurung will be sent to Darjeeling, come what may," the source said.

Mr Gurung, Roshan Giri, and other leaders of the camp had appealed to the court for interim protection on different cases filed against them to allow them to participate in the election process.

"There are different cases related to Bimal Gurung, Roshan Giri, Asha Gurung and Avinash Gurung about criminal activities during the agitation of 2017, after which they had gone underground. Bimal had said in an audio message that he would be coming to campaign for the elections this time and had asked for interim relief in the Supreme Court. It has been about three months that Gurung has filed this petition and hearings were held regularly with one held yesterday also. Today morning, the Supreme Court dismissed this case and said that hearing for it will not be held in the Supreme Court and those who wanted interim relief had to approach the Calcutta High Court for anticipatory bail." Mr Tamang said earlier in the day.

"Even after they apply for anticipatory bail, they have to get a certified copy and an NOC from the lower court of the area concerned. Only then will their anticipatory bail be accepted, which is a clear stand of the Supreme Court. The people of the hills are thankful to the SC as they were the people due to whom peace in the hills was disturbed, while schools were closed and people associated with business and tea gardens were affected. Their return to the hills would mean spreading fear among the people that the hills would be disturbed," he said, adding that the SC verdict today provided relief to the people here and that they need not be afraid now.

Mr Tamang also appealed to those who were still waiting for Bimal Gurung to return to "understand this and come back to the mainstream."

According to the PTI report, Mr Giri had yesterday told the apex court that the Mamata Banerjee-led government was "vindictive" towards him and has implicated him in several "bogus cases."

However, the West Bengal government has strongly opposed his contentions and said Mr Giri was an absconder and there were several incriminating materials against him, which allegedly showed his complicity in various cases of heinous nature, according to the report.