Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, once again wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to revoke the Centre’s appointment of a retired IPS officer as an interlocutor over issues related to the Gorkhas in the Darjeeling hills.
In her two-page letter, Banerjee termed the decision “unilateral and arbitrary,” saying it had been taken “without any consultation or concurrence of the Government of West Bengal.”
She described the move as “wholly unconstitutional, without jurisdiction and devoid of legal sanctity,” asserting that it has “no foundation either in the Constitution of India or in any valid statutory provision”.
Banerjee noted that she had earlier written to the Prime Minister on October 18 seeking reconsideration of the decision.
Though the Prime Minister’s Office acknowledged the letter and said the matter would be examined by the Union Home minister, the state received no further communication. Instead, on November 10, the Union Home Ministry informed that the interlocutor’s
office had already begun functioning. The retired IPS officer has been tasked with looking into Gorkha-related issues in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong.
“It is a matter of grave concern that despite your kind intervention, the office of the interlocutor has already started functioning,” she wrote, calling the development “really shocking”.
Reiterating that the Darjeeling hills fall squarely under the state’s jurisdiction, Banerjee wrote that Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong are “inseparable parts of West Bengal,” and that the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act, 2011, vests administrative authority of the region in the state government.
She argued that the Centre has no Constitutional authority to appoint an interlocutor for an area governed by a valid state law.
Terming the decision “illegal, unconstitutional and an abuse of power,” Banerjee said it violates the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. She called the Centre’s move “a blatant encroachment upon the federal structure” and “an assault on the autonomy of West Bengal,” warning that such actions undermine the principle of cooperative federalism.
The Chief Minister further cautioned that the decision could disturb the peace and stability restored in the hills since 2011 through sustained state initiatives, alleging that the Centre’s intervention may be politically motivated.
She urged the Prime Minister to “revoke this unconstitutional and arbitrary order”.