New Delhi: The Calcutta high court on Thursday (June 13) directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to add Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) leader Bimal Gurung’s name as an accused in the Madan Tamang murder case. The high court set aside an earlier sessions court verdict that had discharged Gurung.
Gurung, according to The Indian Express, called this development a “political conspiracy” and said that he will appeal against the order. The Tamang family expressed some relief at the order. “In August 2017, Bharati Tamang, wife of Late Madan Tamang, had filed a revision petition in the Calcutta high court against the order whereby Bimal Gurung had been discharged. Our prayer was to set aside the discharge order in favor of Bimal Gurung. In December 2023, the matter came up for hearing. Now, Bimal Gurung has to appear before the trial court,” Amar Lama, Taman’s brother, told Millennium Post.
“Madan Tamang, a political leader of Darjeeling and the then president of the All India Gorkha League (referred to as AIGL hereinafter), a political party in Darjeeling was murdered in broad daylight at Darjeeling Mall on 21.05.2010,” the high court’s order noted.
“The learned Chief Judge, City Sessions Court, has committed an error by separating/segregating Bimal Gurung from other accused persons. The value evidence is similar to that of all the other accused persons and Bimal Gurung; merely not collecting CDR of Bimal Gurung cannot itself exonerate him from the direct allegation of criminal conspiracy. It is quite impermissible to discharge an accused from a criminal case where his name is directly stated by the available witnesses regarding his involvement in the alleged offence. Bimal Gurung was cited as a leader of other accused persons,” a single judge bench of Justice Subhendu Samanta continued.
“Thus, complicity against Bimal Gurung has been sufficiently established at this stage. Some witnesses disclosed the conduct and public remarks of Bimal Gurung regarding threatening the victim, the remaining witnesses disclosed some facts …about a meeting of Bimal Gurung with the other accused persons for commission of alleged offences. Thus, at this juncture how far the charge of conspiracy against Bimal Gurung would be proved in trial, cannot be ascertained at the stage u/s 227 Cr.P.C. but it can very well observed that there are grave suspicions against Bimal Gurung in this case,” he added.
“Considering the entire material, I am of the view that the instant criminal revisions got merit and they are required to be allowed. The alleged portion of the impugned order passed by the learned Chief Judge, City Sessions Court, through which he discharged Bimal Gurung from this case is hereby set aside. The charge in this case is required to be framed against Bimal Gurung with other accused persons. The learned trial judge is to proceed with this case according to the law and as per direction of the honourable Apex Court,” he concluded.
In May 2010, after Tamang was murdered, a murder case was registered at Darjeeling police station and the CID started an investigation. One of the main accused, Nikol Tamang, was arrested but then escaped from police custody. Later the CBI took charge of the investigation and filed a chargesheet naming 48 hill leaders, including Gurung. In August 2017, the sessions court ordered that Gurung’s name should be dropped from the chargesheet.