Giri flouted HC fiat: Govt

TT, 27 November 2019, Calcutta: The Bengal government said in Calcutta High Court on Tuesday that Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leader Roshan Giri had violated its earlier order and left Calcutta without obtaining the court's permission.

State public prosecutor Saswata Gopal Mukherjee told a division bench that the high court had asked Giri and other accused in the Madan Tamang murder case not to leave Calcutta till the completion of trial in the city sessions court.

Mukherjee assured the division bench comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Manojit Mandal that the state would file an affidavit in this regard on December 10 when 156 cases against Morcha leaders Bimal Gurung, Giri and others would come up in the court for disposal.

The court had decided to club together 176 cases against the Morcha leaders and was to start daily hearing on Tuesday.

But the public prosecutor requested the court to postpone the hearing to December 3 for the convenience of advocate general Kishore Dutta. The division bench granted the prayer and fixed the hearing on December 10.

Then Mukherjee alleged that Giri had violated court's earlier directive and left the city. The bench then asked the PP to file the affidavit stating its claim on December 10.

Of the 176 cases, 156 petitions will be heard by the court first. Most of the cases pertain to the violent Gorkhaland agitation in 2017.

The cases against Gurung mostly involve destruction of public properties.

Both the public prosecutor and lawyers representing the Morcha leaders informed the high court on Tuesday that the district session judge of Darjeeling was not hearing other cases against Gurung and his associates.

"The session judge says since the cases against Gurung and others are pending for disposal before Calcutta High Court, he would not hear the related cases till the disposal by the high court," the PP said.

Hearing the advocates of both the sides, the division bench issued an order saying: "The session judge has the liberty to proceed with other cases.".