This is an article with respect to the issue of territorial jurisdiction of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration(GTA),an arrangement meted out by the Central Government, State Government and Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) in pursuance of the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland from West Bengal. GJM had demanded inclusion of additional areas of Dooars and Tarai (398 mouzas) in the GTA . As an arrangement, as per the Tripartite Aggrement a High Power Committee (HPC) was constituted to identify the feasibility of the inclusion of areas in Dooars and Tarai areas of West Bengal. The High Power Committee was headed by Hon'ble Retd Justice Shyamal Sen as the Chairman and representatives of Central Government, State and the GJM were also members of the same.The HPC submitted its report in early June 2012 and only 5 mouzas out of 398 mouzas were included in the GTA. The report has been uploaded in the official website of Govt of West Bengal.
The following are the prima facie objections on merits vis a vis report of the High Power Commitee headed by Retd Justice Shyamal Sen for inclusion of additional areas in the jurisdiction of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration(GTA).
The findings of the Hon’ble Chairman Retd Justice Shyamal Sen are completely arbitrary, clearly in violation of the Principles of Natural Justice and also the Rule of Law. The Hon’ble Chairman has ignored vital material facts that bear significant relevance on the core subject matter i.e. transfer of areas. Many of the facts and materials that are placed on record and relied upon by the Hon’ble Chairman are false, frivolous, baseless and concocted by those who are against the inclusion of mouzas in the GTA. It is significant to point out that the report ought to be rejected in its entirety as most of the vital submissions put forward by GJM has been disregarded. A bare perusal of the report makes it abundantly clear that the conclusions arrived upon by the Hon’ble Chairman are completely biased and drawn without proper application of judicious mind.
The following are the prima facie objections on merits vis a vis report of the High Power Commitee headed by Retd Justice Shyamal Sen for inclusion of additional areas in the jurisdiction of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration(GTA).
The findings of the Hon’ble Chairman Retd Justice Shyamal Sen are completely arbitrary, clearly in violation of the Principles of Natural Justice and also the Rule of Law. The Hon’ble Chairman has ignored vital material facts that bear significant relevance on the core subject matter i.e. transfer of areas. Many of the facts and materials that are placed on record and relied upon by the Hon’ble Chairman are false, frivolous, baseless and concocted by those who are against the inclusion of mouzas in the GTA. It is significant to point out that the report ought to be rejected in its entirety as most of the vital submissions put forward by GJM has been disregarded. A bare perusal of the report makes it abundantly clear that the conclusions arrived upon by the Hon’ble Chairman are completely biased and drawn without proper application of judicious mind.
The following are the objections on merits:
1. The Hon’ble Chairman has reported in the media that the conclusions/ findings are based upon the provisions of the Constitution of India and the law of the land. It is significant to point out that on a thread bare analysis of the report in its entirety, there is not even a single reference to any of the Articles/Provisions of the Constitution of India. Similarly not even a single Clause/ Sections of any Law/ Act has been quoted. Under such circumstances vague and ambiguous statements on behalf of the Hon’ble Chairman before the media and otherwise that the conclusions/ findings are based upon the provisions of the Constitution of India and the law of the land makes no relevance at all.
On the contrary it is submitted that the findings of the Hon’ble Chairman are totally against the provisions of the Constitution as discrimination on the basis of race and caste is writ large. The Hon’ble Chairman has made a mockery of the fundamental rights i.e Equality before Law (Article 14) , Discrimination on the grounds of race and caste (Article 15), Protection of the interests of minorities (Article 29) and Protection of personal liberty as Gorkha citizens residing in the areas as demanded by GJM are being deprived of their basic rights and personal liberty. It is further submitted that the onus lies with the Hon’ble Chairman to explain how the constitutional rights as stated herein above have been safeguarded as per the report.
2. As per the notification dated 29.07.2011 the requisite criteria for transfer of additional areas in the GTA is with regard to the compactness, continuity, homogeneity, ground level situation and other relevant factors. However, as per the report under dispute it is clearly mentioned that 35 Nos. of petition from Jalpaiguri District and 3 numbers of petition from Darjeeling District totaling to 38 petitions have been disposed off on the sole ground of “Non Development”. It is significant to point out that the essence of the formation of GTA Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is for all round development. Therefore, the issue of development falls under the criteria mentioned in the notification i.e. “other relevant factors’ (page no.6).
3. The Hon’ble Chairman as stated in page no. 35 of the report, those opposing claims for inclusion of the areas comprise of several political parties through their representatives and different organizations being 27 in number. The submissions made by all of the aforesaid that are against the inclusion of the areas have been considered thread bare. On the contrary as far as the representatives of GJM are concerned only the submissions made by Shri Rooshan Giri, Shri. L.B. Pariyar and Shri. John Barla has been considered. On the contrary for those objecting to the issue of inclusion, submissions of more than 30 people have been mentioned in the report but on the other hand those supporting the inclusion are less than 10.. It is apparent that the Hon’ble Chairman has resorted to pick and choose policy so as to come to the conclusion of the report.
4. A perusal of the Annexures relied upon by the Hon’ble Chairman, significant documents that have a direct bearing on the issue of inclusion of areas i.e. the written submissions made by Shri. Rooshan Giri, Shri L.B. Pariyar and Shri. John Barla have not been placed on record nor relied upon. On the other hand irrelevant documents comprising of the Show Cause Notice and Termination Notice issued by ABVP have been placed on record and relied upon (Annexure-N). It is submitted that the aforesaid documents are internal documents of ABVP and the contents of the documents bears no direct relevance whatsoever with the issue of inclusion of areas. Therefore, it is an established fact that the Hon’ble Chairman has succumbed to the pressure of the frontal organizations and political party who are strictly against the inclusion of additional areas in the GTA.
5. A perusal of the report indicates that the representatives of Bangla-O-Bangla Bhasa Committee raised serious questions with respect to the citizenship of Gorkhas viz-a-viz the questioning of Gazette Notification dated 23.08.1988 issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. It is stated that the aforesaid Notification was issued in the year 1988 and objections to the authenticity and applicability of the aforesaid notification with respect to the citizenship of Gorkhas is being raised after about 24 years. The representatives opposing the aforesaid notification should be put to strict test to explain the delay of 24 years in raising objections to the applicability of the same. Moreover the aforesaid notification is in consonance with article 5 of the Constitution of India. So are they questioning the contents of the provisions of the Constitution.
6. It is also observed that the representatives of the frontal organization who are against the inclusion of additional areas raised serious questions regarding the nomenclature of GTA stating that the term “Gorkhaland” being imaginary. It is clarified that the domain and jurisdiction of High Power Committee is confined to the extent of territorial jurisdiction of GTA. Therefore, the High Power Committee has no jurisdiction to entertain issues with respect to nomenclature (page 15). From the aforesaid facts it is apparent on the face of record the Hon’ble Chairman has attempted to divulge from the core issue and insignificant issue which bears no relevance whatsoever with the issue of inclusion of areas have been entertained.
7. As per the Bodoland Accord dated 20.02.1993 areas having 10 percent or more of tribal population has been included in the Bodoland Autonomous Council. However, in the present case an extremely unreasonable cap of more than 50 percent of the total population has been fixed which clearly signifies that the Hon’ble Chairman has been extremely unfair and biased in addressing the issues raised by GJM. And from which instance has the cap of 50% been drawn? No reasonable explanation is stated.
8. It is observe that the Chairman has blindly relied upon the submissions and documents raised by those who are against the inclusion of additional areas accepting it to be gospel truth, whereas genuine submissions of GJM pertaining to the welfare of public at large has been overlooked.
9. As per the report The Land Reforms Commissioner has simply stated that splitting of mouzas would invite administrative complications and bottleneck. What are those complications and administrative bottleneck??? No clear explanation has been given.
10. Those opposing the inclusion have out rightly tagged Gorkhas as immigrants from Bhutan and Nepal. What about our fundamental and constitutional rights? Is this the price we pay for our loyalty and martyrdom?
Ranjan Sharma, Advocate,
General Secretary,
GJM Delhi.
1. The Hon’ble Chairman has reported in the media that the conclusions/ findings are based upon the provisions of the Constitution of India and the law of the land. It is significant to point out that on a thread bare analysis of the report in its entirety, there is not even a single reference to any of the Articles/Provisions of the Constitution of India. Similarly not even a single Clause/ Sections of any Law/ Act has been quoted. Under such circumstances vague and ambiguous statements on behalf of the Hon’ble Chairman before the media and otherwise that the conclusions/ findings are based upon the provisions of the Constitution of India and the law of the land makes no relevance at all.
On the contrary it is submitted that the findings of the Hon’ble Chairman are totally against the provisions of the Constitution as discrimination on the basis of race and caste is writ large. The Hon’ble Chairman has made a mockery of the fundamental rights i.e Equality before Law (Article 14) , Discrimination on the grounds of race and caste (Article 15), Protection of the interests of minorities (Article 29) and Protection of personal liberty as Gorkha citizens residing in the areas as demanded by GJM are being deprived of their basic rights and personal liberty. It is further submitted that the onus lies with the Hon’ble Chairman to explain how the constitutional rights as stated herein above have been safeguarded as per the report.
2. As per the notification dated 29.07.2011 the requisite criteria for transfer of additional areas in the GTA is with regard to the compactness, continuity, homogeneity, ground level situation and other relevant factors. However, as per the report under dispute it is clearly mentioned that 35 Nos. of petition from Jalpaiguri District and 3 numbers of petition from Darjeeling District totaling to 38 petitions have been disposed off on the sole ground of “Non Development”. It is significant to point out that the essence of the formation of GTA Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is for all round development. Therefore, the issue of development falls under the criteria mentioned in the notification i.e. “other relevant factors’ (page no.6).
3. The Hon’ble Chairman as stated in page no. 35 of the report, those opposing claims for inclusion of the areas comprise of several political parties through their representatives and different organizations being 27 in number. The submissions made by all of the aforesaid that are against the inclusion of the areas have been considered thread bare. On the contrary as far as the representatives of GJM are concerned only the submissions made by Shri Rooshan Giri, Shri. L.B. Pariyar and Shri. John Barla has been considered. On the contrary for those objecting to the issue of inclusion, submissions of more than 30 people have been mentioned in the report but on the other hand those supporting the inclusion are less than 10.. It is apparent that the Hon’ble Chairman has resorted to pick and choose policy so as to come to the conclusion of the report.
4. A perusal of the Annexures relied upon by the Hon’ble Chairman, significant documents that have a direct bearing on the issue of inclusion of areas i.e. the written submissions made by Shri. Rooshan Giri, Shri L.B. Pariyar and Shri. John Barla have not been placed on record nor relied upon. On the other hand irrelevant documents comprising of the Show Cause Notice and Termination Notice issued by ABVP have been placed on record and relied upon (Annexure-N). It is submitted that the aforesaid documents are internal documents of ABVP and the contents of the documents bears no direct relevance whatsoever with the issue of inclusion of areas. Therefore, it is an established fact that the Hon’ble Chairman has succumbed to the pressure of the frontal organizations and political party who are strictly against the inclusion of additional areas in the GTA.
5. A perusal of the report indicates that the representatives of Bangla-O-Bangla Bhasa Committee raised serious questions with respect to the citizenship of Gorkhas viz-a-viz the questioning of Gazette Notification dated 23.08.1988 issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. It is stated that the aforesaid Notification was issued in the year 1988 and objections to the authenticity and applicability of the aforesaid notification with respect to the citizenship of Gorkhas is being raised after about 24 years. The representatives opposing the aforesaid notification should be put to strict test to explain the delay of 24 years in raising objections to the applicability of the same. Moreover the aforesaid notification is in consonance with article 5 of the Constitution of India. So are they questioning the contents of the provisions of the Constitution.
6. It is also observed that the representatives of the frontal organization who are against the inclusion of additional areas raised serious questions regarding the nomenclature of GTA stating that the term “Gorkhaland” being imaginary. It is clarified that the domain and jurisdiction of High Power Committee is confined to the extent of territorial jurisdiction of GTA. Therefore, the High Power Committee has no jurisdiction to entertain issues with respect to nomenclature (page 15). From the aforesaid facts it is apparent on the face of record the Hon’ble Chairman has attempted to divulge from the core issue and insignificant issue which bears no relevance whatsoever with the issue of inclusion of areas have been entertained.
7. As per the Bodoland Accord dated 20.02.1993 areas having 10 percent or more of tribal population has been included in the Bodoland Autonomous Council. However, in the present case an extremely unreasonable cap of more than 50 percent of the total population has been fixed which clearly signifies that the Hon’ble Chairman has been extremely unfair and biased in addressing the issues raised by GJM. And from which instance has the cap of 50% been drawn? No reasonable explanation is stated.
8. It is observe that the Chairman has blindly relied upon the submissions and documents raised by those who are against the inclusion of additional areas accepting it to be gospel truth, whereas genuine submissions of GJM pertaining to the welfare of public at large has been overlooked.
9. As per the report The Land Reforms Commissioner has simply stated that splitting of mouzas would invite administrative complications and bottleneck. What are those complications and administrative bottleneck??? No clear explanation has been given.
10. Those opposing the inclusion have out rightly tagged Gorkhas as immigrants from Bhutan and Nepal. What about our fundamental and constitutional rights? Is this the price we pay for our loyalty and martyrdom?
Ranjan Sharma, Advocate,
General Secretary,
GJM Delhi.
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