SC reserves judgment on GJM leaders' plea seeking protection from arrest till polls

The Supreme Court reserved its judgment for Wednesday on a plea filed by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leaders Roshan Giri and Bimal Gurung seeking a direction to grant interim protection for three weeks to allow them to participate in the general elections.

A division bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra and comprising Justice Navin Sinha after hearing the arguments of both sides reserved the judgment in the matter for tomorrow.

During the course of hearing, former Attorney General (AG) and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for the petitioners, sought protection from arrest to his clients till election for Darjeeling seat as they want to campaign for the election.

Rohatgi alleged that the other faction of GJM led by Binoy Tamang has aligned with TMC and supporting their candidate. "There is no substantial case against my clients hence, they should be given interim relief," Rohatgi said.

Countering the claims of the defence, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, said, "No relief could be given to the duo as there are many criminal cases pending against them."

Sibal objected to the submissions made by Rohatgi and told the apex court that no relief could be given to the duo, citing that there are many criminal cases pending against the accused duo and many others.

"Both of them are proclaimed absconded offender," Sibal told the bench while handing over a phone recording of Gurung in a sealed envelope.

On Thursday, the court had asked the accused persons to file their respective replies as to how many criminal cases are registered and dropped against them in the state of West Bengal.

According to the police, Gurung is allegedly involved in more than 30 criminal cases over many Gorkhaland protests. West Bengal government had earlier approached the Supreme Court against the protection from arrest to GJM leader Gurung.