The Supreme Court Monday asked the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) to desist from blocking the National Highway-31A, which links Siliguri in West Bengal to Sikkim’s capital Gangtok, during its proposed shutdown July 25.
New Delhi, July 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday asked the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) to desist from blocking the National Highway-31A, which links Siliguri in West Bengal to Sikkim’s capital Gangtok, during its proposed shutdown July 25.
The court has asked GJMM to ‘strictly’ adhere to its earlier direction to refrain from blocking the NH-31A during the course of its agitation.
The court said that the contempt of court notice issued on GJJM leaders Bimal Gurung and Binoy Tamang which they have declined to receive should be served on them by placing public notices in the Sikkim Express and the Darjeeling edition of The Statesman.
The apex court bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice A.K. Patnaik also recorded the statement of the petitioner, O.P. Bhandari.
The court has directed all the respondents who have been served with contempt notice to file their reply within four weeks and gave two weeks time to the petitioner to file his rejoinder.
The senior counsel Pravin Parekh told the court that the central government has withdrawn the three companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) deployed for protecting the NH-31A and for the free flow of traffic.
The West Bengal government in its reply said that it was taking every step for the effective implementation of the court’s direction for an uninterrupted movement of traffic on NH-31A.
It said that the CRPF was withdrawn by the union home ministry April 22, 2010 but was re-deployed June 15, 2010.
The State government’s affidavit said that presence of CRPF was helpful in ‘effectively’ implementing the Supreme Court directions for free flow of traffic on National Highway 31A (NH 31A) during bandh call either by Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha and other anti-Gorkha agitation organizations.
