Gorkhaland agitation: SC to hear Centre's plea on withdrawal of forces from Darjeeling, Kalimpong on 27 October

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the Centre’s plea challenging the Calcutta High Court order on withdrawal of security forces from Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal. [caption id=“attachment_3901597” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] A bench of Justices J Chelameswar and S Abdul Nazeer said the matter will be listed on 27 October. Appearing for the Centre, advocate Wasim Qadri said the Calcutta High Court had on 17 October stayed the withdrawal of security forces from the disturbed areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong. He said the Centre needs to deploy forces in the poll-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Some forces also need to be deployed along the borders of Jammu and Kashmir and in the north-eastern states, he added. The Calcutta High Court had stayed the withdrawal of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) from the Darjeeling Hills, the scene of unrest over the statehood demand, till 27 October after the state government approached it against the Centre’s decision. The high court had on 14 July directed the Centre to deploy four more companies of CAPF in addition to the 11 that was already present in the Hills then. The West Bengal government had written to the Centre seeking extended deployment of CAPF till 25 December, but was told that of the 15 companies present, 10 would be withdrawn on 15 October and the rest by 20 October. The state was later informed by the Centre that three companies of women CRPF personnel of the 10 proposed to be withdrawn on 15 October would stay there till 20 October, he said. The counsel for the central government had claimed that the situation in the Darjeeling Hills had improved compared to July when the order on deployment of paramilitary contingents had been passed by the high court.