KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to intervene in the proposed elections to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.
A petition was filed challenging the state notification appointing the Darjeeling district magistrate as election officer for the proposed GTA polls.
The GTA elections will be held in June, the Bengal government and the State Election Commission (SEC) had said earlier. Around the same time, the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad polls too will be held.
The petitioners had moved HC questioning how the polls could be held since GTA formation had been challenged in court. They said the Supreme Court had asked HC to decide the issue expeditiously. It is likely to come up for hearing on June 21. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, in his order, said even if polls are held, the outcome will depend on the final court orders.
The first GTA election was held in July 2012 and its five-year term lapsed in 2017, the year GJM embarked on a violent 100-day-long statehood movement.
