HC to pass order on GTA petition today

Kolkata: Calcutta High Court scheduled a hearing of a petition on Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) for order on Friday. Petitioner GNLF and the state submitted the notes of argument on Thursday on the directions of the HC.
GNLF supremo and chairman of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) Subash Ghisingh had moved the high court on the plea that the GTA Act, adopted by repealing the DGHC Act, didn’t have “constitutional backing”.The DGHC Act, 1988 was exempt from the operations of the panchayat act and municipal laws. GNLF submitted that the repeal of the DGHC Act brought back the three-tier panchayat system leaving no room for the GTA.
Advocate general S N Mookherjee had submitted to the court that the election process was on and, therefore, there was no scope for judicial intervention at this stage.
The advocate general also drew the HC’s attention to the fact that the petition challenging the GTA Act had been pending adjudication since 2012. Mookherjee submitted that there was no stay on the act so far.