Calcutta High Court.
| Photo Credit: SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH
The Calcutta High Court on April 9 directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a preliminary inquiry into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers within the jurisdiction of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), a regional autonomous body, raising the political temperature in the Darjeeling hills.
Justice Biswajit Basu directed the CBI to submit a report in a fortnight. The petitioners alleged selections were carried out arbitrarily on the basis of a letter from former GTA chairperson Binay Tamang.
In an earlier hearing, the High Court had directed the authorities of the State government to approach the police for an investigation into the alleged illegal recruitment. Justice Basu also issued a show cause notice to the officer in-charge of the Bidhannagar Police Station for not registering a First Information Report (FIR) in the matter.
The petitioner in the case, Suman Gurung, said that more than 1,500 people had been illegally appointed, including family members of the ruling establishment.
Election to the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat will take place on April 26. The development has sparked fresh debate on corruption in the hills. Former GTA chairperson Binay Tamang welcomed the decision of the High Court and said the investigation should be carried out without any political bias.
“The CBI is a premier investigation agency and I am sure that it will conduct a free and fair investigation. The probe should be conducted in a time-bound manner and action should be taken against anyone found guilty,” Mr. Tamang said.
Once close to the Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Mr. Tamang is now with the Congress.
“This is a very good mood. This will give impetus to fight against corruption in the GTA,” Ajoy Edwards, a politician from Darjeeling who also joined the Congress party recently, said.
The Congress party has fielded Munish Tamang from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat.
The BJP has renominated Raju Bista from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. In September 2023, Mr. Bista had written a letter to CBI Director Praveen Sood, requesting him to probe teachers’ recruitment the GTA. Mr. Bista won the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Darjeeling by a margin of over four lakh votes.
The Trinamool Congress has fielded Gopal Lama from the Darjeeling seat. Mr. Lama has the support of the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha’s Anit Thapa. Mr. Thapa is the present chairperson of the GTA, which administers large parts of Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong, and is considered close to the TMC.
