A special session of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly today witnessed a heated debate between members of the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) and the opposition Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF).

Amid a ruckus in the session, SDF chief and former chief minister Pawan Chamling was “thrown out” of the Assembly hall, when he said he raised objections over the Financial Bill 2023 passed by the Lok Sabha, where the definition of the term “Sikkimese” had been “extrapolated, easing everyone who settled in Sikkim before April 1975 to have equal right to that of the Sikkimese.”

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According to Mr Chamling, the identity and rights of the Sikkimese have been compromised with. He further said that he wanted to apprise the SKM government about looking into the matter for the sake of the future of the Sikkimese, “but they removed me using a marshal.” “Today is a black day in the history of Sikkim,” Mr Chamling said.

On the other hand, SKM chief and Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) told media persons that he does not have the power to remove someone from the Assembly.

“It is the role of the Speaker, who removes the member with the help of the marshal,” he said. Mr Golay clarified that he had not misled the Assembly and that everything presented in the session was based on facts and figures. “This involved facts during the SDF government, in which former CM Pawan Chamling overreacted, causing disturbance in the session. The matter of removing a member from the Assembly using the marshal is subject to the decorum of the Assembly. I too was once removed from the Assembly,” the CM said.

On allegations that the rights of Sikkim were being diluted, Mr Golay said that there has not been any dilution with old laws or special rights enjoyed by the Sikkimese people.

Meanwhile, the Assembly today passed the Government Resolution No 2 of 2023, “Clarification of clause (iv) and clause (v) of section 10 (26AAA) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as inserted by Finance Act, 2023 (No. 8 of 2023).”

The resolution was proposed by Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department Kunga Nima Lepcha, and was seconded by Minister for Building Housing, Social Welfare and Women Child Development Departments Sanjeet Kharel.

The special session had been called to address the rising ambiguity among the
masses concerning the expansion of the Sikkimese term as per the amendments made to the Union Finance Act (No. 8 of 2023), passed by Lok
Sabha on March 26.

Proposing the Government Resolution No 2 of 2023 in the House, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister KN Lepcha said that according to the judgement of the Supreme Court, the Union Ministry of Finance had introduced and passed the Finance Act, 2023, making amendments that included two new categories in the definition of “Sikkimese” under Section 10 of 26AAA of the Finance Act.

The Minister added that these two categories of individuals did not fall under the definition of “Sikkimese” as mentioned in the Government of Sikkim Act, 1974. The Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister stated that the introduction and passing of Finance Act had “deeply hurt the feelings and sentiment of the people of Sikkim and has created apprehension in the minds of the people of Sikkim that the definition of the term Sikkimese has been diluted.”

“As the insertion of clauses (iv) and (v) to the explanation under sub-section 26AAA of Section 10 of Income Tax Act, 1961 has clubbed the three ethnic groups of Sikkim at par with the others, the Government of Sikkim has deemed it necessary for the Government Resolution No. 2 of 2023 to be adopted and passed in the State Legislative Assembly to clearly establish beyond any doubt that the term Sikkimese shall mean the three ethnic communities of the State, i.e. Lepcha of Sikkimese origin, Bhutia of Sikkimese origin and Nepali of Sikkimese origin only,” the minister said.

Clarifying on issues raised by the MLAs over the expansion of the Sikkimese term in the recent amendments of the Finance Act, Chief Minister Golay, also the Leader of the House, said that the amendments do not attack the sanctity of Article 371F which safeguards the rights of the Sikkimese people.

“The essence of Article 371F has remained intact. The Union Finance Minister herself has assured the people of Sikkim that the definition of Sikkimese Lepcha,

Sikkimese Bhutia, and Sikkimese Nepali will always be respected and that it has neither been touched nor will it ever be touched or changed,” Mr Golay said.