Darjeeling crisis: Jolt for Mamata Banerjee as Supreme Court allows Centre to partially withdraw troops

The Supreme Court allowed the Centre to partially withdraw troops from strife-torn Darjeeling and Kalimpong today.

In a jolt for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the top court allowed the Narendra Modi government to withdraw seven of the 15 CRPF companies from the hill region.

Banerjee, who had termed the troop withdrawal as an attempt by the Centre to destabilise Bengal, has yet not reacted to the development.

She had said that the move was a deliberate attempt to maintain unrest in the region.

The apex court decision came after the Calcutta High Court had stay put the removal of central forces from Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

The High Court's decision was viewed as a victory for Banerje who had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh against the decision.

The Centre had filed an affidavit in the Calcutta High Court on October 23 and the state government filed a reply on October 26.

The friction between the Centre and Bengal government came after the Union Home Ministry on October 15 informed about the decision of withdrawing seven companies of the CRPF and three companies of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) from Darjeeling and Kalimpong from October 16.