Bharati Tamang to write Calcutta High Court chief justice

Bharati Tamang, the wife of slain ABGL leader Madan Tamang, has said she will write to the chief justice of Calcutta High Court to expedite the process of hearing the anticipatory bail pleas of Bimal Gurung and 22 other Morcha leaders named in the CBI chargesheet on the murder of her husband.

The Democratic Front, a conglomeration of four political outfits from the hills - the ABGL, CPRM, GNLF and Sikkim-Darjeeling Ekikaran Manch - today took the decision.

Pratap Khati, the convener of the front and general secretary of the ABGL, said: "Bharati Tamang has decided to write to the chief justice of Calcutta High Court to expedite the process of hearing the anticipatory bail application. We have faith in the judiciary system but the continuous delay in passing an order on the anticipatory bail application is making us frustrated. Even if bail has to be granted, let it be granted but we would request the court to pass an order on this application."

Bharati, who was seated beside Khati, said: "I will send the letter in the next few days."

The hearing of the anticipatory bail application is slated for November 17.

The CBI had named Gurung and senior Morcha leaders like Roshan Giri, Binay Tamang, Bhupendra Pradhan, Asha Gurung, Lt Col (retd) Ramesh Allay and others in a chargesheet filed at a city session court in Calcutta on May 29.

Harka Bahadur Chhetri, the Kalimpong MLA who resigned from the Morcha recently, is among the 23 named in the chargesheet.

Tamang was hacked to death in Darjeeling on May 21, 2010, by suspected Morcha supporters when he was preparing to hold a public meeting.(TT)