June 8: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) chief Bimal Gurung and eight other top party leaders today sought anticipatory bail in Calcutta High Court in the Madan Tamang murder case in which a city court has ordered the arrest of almost the entire top-rung of the hill party by June 26.
Twenty-three Morcha leaders and activists have been charged with murder.
Madan Tamang, the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, was hacked to death in public view in the heart of Darjeeling on May 21, 2010.
At the time of his murder, Madan Tamang was the most vocal critic of the Morcha, which now has complete control of the political set-up in the Darjeeling hills.
Among those who applied for anticipatory bail today with Gurung were party general secretary Roshan Giri, assistant secretary Binay Tamang, Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri and Gurung's wife Asha
The chargesheet was filed in the special CBI court in Calcutta on May 29.
The bail pleas are likely to be heard on Wednesday, according to senior court officials.
Advocate Sayan Dey, who filed the bail pleas on behalf of the accused, said: "My clients have been falsely implicated in the murder case. None of them was present at the spot on the day Madan Tamang was murdered. My clients are apprehending arrest and that is why we have sought anticipatory bail."
According to lawyers connected to the case, the rest of the accused would file anticipatory bail appeals within the next few days.
Senior high court lawyers said according to the norms followed by investigating agencies, the arrests were not made till anticipatory bail pleas pertaining to a particular case were disposed of.
"The lawyers appearing for the accused are taking advantage of this system. That is why they have planned to file the anticipatory bail pleas in phases in an attempt to delay the arrests," said a senior high court lawyer.
None of the accused was present in the high court today.
Gurung's daughter, Nanda, and Morcha assistant secretary Jyoti Kumar Rai were seen in the court. Both chose not to comment on the case.
According to court sources, the CBI was served a notice to appear during the hearing of the anticipatory bail pleas.
Hours after filing the anticipatory bail applications, the Morcha said in Darjeeling that the party had not hatched a conspiracy to kill Madan Tamang and had immediately sought a CBI inquiry when the state government had entrusted the case to the CID.
In a hurriedly called news conference, R.P. Waiba, a vice-president of the Morcha, said: "The Morcha never hatched a murder conspiracy. When the state government handed over the investigation to the CID, we were the first to write a letter to the Prime Minister and the home minister seeking a CBI inquiry.... We are innocent and we have full faith in the judiciary."
In Darjeeling, shops opened today for regular business after an abrupt shutdown yesterday by traders who had felt uncertain about possible arrests of the Morcha leaders.
Source: Telegraph
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| GJM top leaders |
Madan Tamang, the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League, was hacked to death in public view in the heart of Darjeeling on May 21, 2010.
At the time of his murder, Madan Tamang was the most vocal critic of the Morcha, which now has complete control of the political set-up in the Darjeeling hills.
Among those who applied for anticipatory bail today with Gurung were party general secretary Roshan Giri, assistant secretary Binay Tamang, Kalimpong MLA Harka Bahadur Chhetri and Gurung's wife Asha
The chargesheet was filed in the special CBI court in Calcutta on May 29.
The bail pleas are likely to be heard on Wednesday, according to senior court officials.
Advocate Sayan Dey, who filed the bail pleas on behalf of the accused, said: "My clients have been falsely implicated in the murder case. None of them was present at the spot on the day Madan Tamang was murdered. My clients are apprehending arrest and that is why we have sought anticipatory bail."
According to lawyers connected to the case, the rest of the accused would file anticipatory bail appeals within the next few days.
Senior high court lawyers said according to the norms followed by investigating agencies, the arrests were not made till anticipatory bail pleas pertaining to a particular case were disposed of.
"The lawyers appearing for the accused are taking advantage of this system. That is why they have planned to file the anticipatory bail pleas in phases in an attempt to delay the arrests," said a senior high court lawyer.
None of the accused was present in the high court today.
Gurung's daughter, Nanda, and Morcha assistant secretary Jyoti Kumar Rai were seen in the court. Both chose not to comment on the case.
According to court sources, the CBI was served a notice to appear during the hearing of the anticipatory bail pleas.
Hours after filing the anticipatory bail applications, the Morcha said in Darjeeling that the party had not hatched a conspiracy to kill Madan Tamang and had immediately sought a CBI inquiry when the state government had entrusted the case to the CID.
In a hurriedly called news conference, R.P. Waiba, a vice-president of the Morcha, said: "The Morcha never hatched a murder conspiracy. When the state government handed over the investigation to the CID, we were the first to write a letter to the Prime Minister and the home minister seeking a CBI inquiry.... We are innocent and we have full faith in the judiciary."
In Darjeeling, shops opened today for regular business after an abrupt shutdown yesterday by traders who had felt uncertain about possible arrests of the Morcha leaders.
Source: Telegraph
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