Tea workers turn away court officer
Jalpaiguri, May 24.TT: More than thousand workers and residents armed with bows and arrows today set up a barricade in a Dooars garden and turned away a high court-appointed liquidator from attaching the property of the garden.
Three court officials, along with the block development officer, deputy police superintendent, and a police force had arrived at Raipur tea estate around 12.30pm only to be stopped by the barricade set up by all trade unions in the garden.
Hundreds of men and women surrounded the officials and the policemen and shouted slogans in Hindi. “Arrest the old owner of the garden, go back,” they shouted. They even made it clear that if any force was used, they would resist it at any cost.
The officials returned to Jalpaiguri town, 12km away, as they failed to breach the barrier. They then attached the head office of the tea estate located next to the Kotwali police station in Jalpaiguri.
The high court liquidation officer, Rana Sengupta, said the previous owner of the garden, T.P. Roy, owed about Rs 14 lakh to a Siliguri-based company which supplied coal to the estate. “The company went to the high court to recover its dues and the court ordered attachment of the property of the tea garden and that is why we had come here. However, we were not allowed to carry out our work and I will submit a report to the court after I return to Calcutta,” Sengupta said.
A source in the garden said the tea estate was abandoned in 2003 by the management of Amritpur Tea Company Limited because of shortage of funds. Six years later the garden opened after a bank that had confiscated the keys and deeds of the estate released them on the order of the Debt Recovery Tribunal after its dues were paid. The garden got a new owner but the lease remained in the name of the old owner, T.P. Roy.
“The garden reopened in 2009 but the old owner refused to run it. The state government gave permission to Raimohan Saha to run the garden and he has been running the garden since then,” the source said.
The unit secretary of the Trinamul Congress union of the garden, Bitna Baraik, said the trade unions and the workers were not concerned about what the earlier owner had done. “The new management is running the garden smoothly and we will not allow any property to be attached,” he said.
Citu unit secretary Pradhan Hembram and Intuc unit secretary Manglu Pradhan said any attachment of property would bring back the days of hardship that the workers faced during the closure.
“The administration wants us to sit with them, but we are not going to attend any meeting. The workers will remain vigilant and the barricade will be manned round-the-clock,” said Hembram.
Block development officer (headquarters) Mallika Sengupta Majumdar said she would hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the matter. “I have asked the present management, the trade unions and the high court officials for a meeting tomorrow,” she said.
A senior police officer said the situation was very delicate. “There were more than 1,500 men and women at the barricade and they were heavily armed with bows, arrows and swords. Had we tried to use force the situation would have turned serious,” he said.
The deputy police superintendent (headquarters), Haripada Shi, said the workers’ resistance made them turn back. “The high court officials had to return without carrying out the order because of stiff resistance by the workers,” he said.
Three court officials, along with the block development officer, deputy police superintendent, and a police force had arrived at Raipur tea estate around 12.30pm only to be stopped by the barricade set up by all trade unions in the garden.
Hundreds of men and women surrounded the officials and the policemen and shouted slogans in Hindi. “Arrest the old owner of the garden, go back,” they shouted. They even made it clear that if any force was used, they would resist it at any cost.
The officials returned to Jalpaiguri town, 12km away, as they failed to breach the barrier. They then attached the head office of the tea estate located next to the Kotwali police station in Jalpaiguri.
The high court liquidation officer, Rana Sengupta, said the previous owner of the garden, T.P. Roy, owed about Rs 14 lakh to a Siliguri-based company which supplied coal to the estate. “The company went to the high court to recover its dues and the court ordered attachment of the property of the tea garden and that is why we had come here. However, we were not allowed to carry out our work and I will submit a report to the court after I return to Calcutta,” Sengupta said.
A source in the garden said the tea estate was abandoned in 2003 by the management of Amritpur Tea Company Limited because of shortage of funds. Six years later the garden opened after a bank that had confiscated the keys and deeds of the estate released them on the order of the Debt Recovery Tribunal after its dues were paid. The garden got a new owner but the lease remained in the name of the old owner, T.P. Roy.
“The garden reopened in 2009 but the old owner refused to run it. The state government gave permission to Raimohan Saha to run the garden and he has been running the garden since then,” the source said.
The unit secretary of the Trinamul Congress union of the garden, Bitna Baraik, said the trade unions and the workers were not concerned about what the earlier owner had done. “The new management is running the garden smoothly and we will not allow any property to be attached,” he said.
Citu unit secretary Pradhan Hembram and Intuc unit secretary Manglu Pradhan said any attachment of property would bring back the days of hardship that the workers faced during the closure.
“The administration wants us to sit with them, but we are not going to attend any meeting. The workers will remain vigilant and the barricade will be manned round-the-clock,” said Hembram.
Block development officer (headquarters) Mallika Sengupta Majumdar said she would hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the matter. “I have asked the present management, the trade unions and the high court officials for a meeting tomorrow,” she said.
A senior police officer said the situation was very delicate. “There were more than 1,500 men and women at the barricade and they were heavily armed with bows, arrows and swords. Had we tried to use force the situation would have turned serious,” he said.
The deputy police superintendent (headquarters), Haripada Shi, said the workers’ resistance made them turn back. “The high court officials had to return without carrying out the order because of stiff resistance by the workers,” he said.
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