Ghising petitions Cal HC saying GTA Act unconstitutional

Kolkata, Jun 14 (PTI) Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) president Subash Ghisingh today filed a petition in the Calcutta High Court challenging the GTA Act 2011 claiming that it was ultra vires of the Constitution. It has been claimed in the petition that the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act 2011 was unconstitutional, Ghising's counsel Arunabha Ghosh said, adding that the GTA Act could not be made applicable to the Darjeeling hills. The petition claimed that the GTA Act could come into force in Darjeeling hills without amending the Constitution. The Constitution provides that if the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Act, 1988 (DGHC) was repealed, the entire area would come under the purview of the Indian Panchayat and Municipalities Act, the petition stated. If the DGHC was scrapped, the new act could not come into force without amending the Constitution, Ghising's petition claimed. Ghising came to the high court and affirmed the petition before it was filed. The matter is likely to come before the court of Justice Dipankar Dutta on Tuesday.