THE OLD SETTLERS OF SIKKIM

Exemption from the purview of Central Income Tax, Nagrik Sangharsha Samiti- Press Release
source: VoiceofSikkim on Dec 09, 2009 | 7 Comments

Nagrik Sangharsha Samiti
Above Sri Niketan Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Gangtok, Sikkim
Ph- 03592-204008 Cell No: 09434109760, 09212974355
To,

The Chief Secretary
Government of Sikkim
Tashiling Secretariat
Gangtok 737 101
Sikkim.
Date: 07/12/09
Sub: Exemption from the purview of Central Income Tax
Sir:
With reference to the Notification No. 102/CT/20009 dated 23rd. June, 2009, I, on behalf of the Nagarik Sangharsha Samiti of Sikkim submitted a written representation dated August 29, 2009 and delivered the same personally in your office. A copy of the said letter is attached herewith for your ready reference.
2. From the contents of the Minutes of the Meeting held in your chamber on 08.10.2009 and signed by the Member Secretary Shri H.B. Rai, it is prima facie clear that the Committee constituted to consider exemption from the purview of Central Income Tax to left out individuals has not taken into consideration the contents of my representation and annexures thereto and ignored the same there by perpetuating injustice to all such persons (barring foreigners) residing in Sikkim before 26 April,1975. The Samiti expected a fair hearing before the Committee which is a normal administrative procedure in any democratic system.
3. I have carefully perused the contents of paragraph 2 of the Minutes of the Meeting of the aforesaid Committee. It is categorically stated therein that “there was no provision in the

Income Tax Act, 1961 for grant of income tax exemption to the left out individuals in the State f Sikkim”. As far as I am aware, there was no provision in the Income Tax Act,1961 for grant of income tax exemption to the erstwhile Sikkim Subject holders until Sec.10 of the Act was amended by the Finance Act,2008 which inserted 26AAA. The exemption granted to the erstwhile Sikkim Subject holders and others covered by Government of India Order No.26030/36/90-I ICI dated 7.8.1990 and 8.4.1991, is based on the Cabinet Memorandum No.06/Fin/Adm. dated 21.08.2007 the contents whereof are well within your knowledge as the same was signed by you as Additional Chief Secretary and Secretary-in-Charge, Finance, Revenue and Expenditure Department of the State Government ( A copy of the same is attached herewith for ready reference). The question of tax exemption was a long-pending political demand of the State of Sikkim and that the same has been agreed to and granted by the Centre under Sec.26AAA discriminating all such persons residing in the State before April 26, 1975. While pressing for tax exemption, the State Government appears to have totally forgotten the legitimate and genuine demands and expectations of all such persons (barring foreigners) who stood at par and became equal with the erstwhile Sikkim Subject holders as on April 26, 1975.
4. The Nagarik Sangharsha Samiti of Sikkim urges the State Government to put forward the case of the left out persons residing in Sikkim before April 26, 1975 for income tax exemption in the same manner in which tax exemption was secured for the erstwhile Sikkim Subject holders. This political demand is justified, legitimate and consistent with the role played by all such persons in the all-round development of Sikkim being equal in all respects.
5. Last but not the least, the tax recovery process initiated by the ITO, Ward: Sikkim State, through individual notices calling for the filing of returns for the assessment years 2008-9 and 2009-10 be forthwith stayed pending the consideration of our demand for tax exemption and equal treatment with the beneficiaries under Sec.26AAA. We further request that the Circular bearing No.14/Fin/Adm. Dated 12.11.2009 directing all government departments/agencies and authorities to initiate the process of TDS with effect from December, 2009 be similarly stayed and kept in abeyance till our demand is conceded to by the State and the Central Government through suitable amendment of the applicable law.
Thanking you, Yours faithfully,
Encl: 1) letter dated 29/08/09 (PREM GOYAL)
2) Minutes of the meeting dtd 08/10/09 Chief Coordinator
3) Cabinet memo no. 06/Fin/Adm dtd 21/08/2007


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7 comments
nawin kiran says:
December 9, 2009 at 11:33 am
I have been so called exempted from paying Central Income Tax Act, 1961. If it was so, I would have been sitting at home and praising Mr. Chamling. But I am not doing that because I know implementing Central Direct Taxes in has violated Article 371-F.
Hence, I am rather disappointed with the Old Settlers Association. NSS etc. they should have voiced along with us (ASESE&UA) and said “Direct Taxes should not be implemented at Sikkim at all”.

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Rating: +1 (from 1 vote) Tashi Pemba says:
December 10, 2009 at 3:54 am
SIKKIM POLITICS— SIKKIM SUBJECT

Posted by Tashi Pemba
Sikkim Subject :
You may bury an injustice but you can never kill an injustice.
Like Banquo’s ghost it will come back to haunt you till your death.

Today the term “Sikkim Subject” is being used to supposedly describe indigenous Sikkimese people .In fact the status is an absolute misnomer as the aforesaid “status” has been reinvented by a circuitous Sikkim government initiated ploy in 1989 to allow Nepalese of not known nationality who came to populate Sikkim after its merger with India in 1975 to become not only citizens of India but gain domicile status in the state of Sikkim.

Simultaneously the same central government directive by a sleight of hand allowed by this notification (obviously engineered by the state government) that all the old settlers of Sikkim other than Nepalese would be deprived of their constitutional right of domicile in the state as the rule allows only rural land owners to apply for Sikkim subject when the King’s laws specifically encouraged Indians to purchase land only in urban areas.

History.

The Sikkim Subject Regulations came into being in 1961 under the erstwhile King of Sikkim to stop the influx of Nepalese into his kingdom as they were posing a danger to the indigenous population. The regulations specifically allowed Sikkim subject status only to people settled in Sikkim for at least 14 years before promulgation i.e. 1961.
This law was specifically directed towards stopping Nepalese/Tibetan/Foreigners influx into Sikkim but has been construed today to deprive Indian people who have been in Sikkim for not 15 but 50 years before the act was extended in 1961.

This law also applied to all Nepalese/Tibetan immigrants and in fact even more so as they were also governed by the “Sikkim Work Permit Regulations” (till date in effect ) which further required that on entry into Sikkim they must be listed (unless they were Indians) and they were specifically were barred from any property rights in Sikkim.

Thus any entrants to Sikkim before 1974 must either be Indians or if they were stateless then they should have been registered under the work permit rules and there should be a record with the government of these people, and they alone if any, are entitled to Domicile status. All others must be considered as Foreigners without any rights.

In addition all Indians were protected by the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Sikkim and India. The treaty specifically recognized the reciprocal rights of Sikkimese and Indians to settle in, own property and engage in commerce in each others territory without any let or hindrance.
The treaty specifically granted to Indian Citizens all the rights of citizenship under the Sikkimese Government and the 1961 regulations acknowledged this fact by not requiring Indians to apply for the aforesaid “Subject Status” to avail of any protection under Sikkim’s laws as absolutely equal citizens.
In fact the Indian community as a whole were treated absoloutely equally by the ruler and his administration without any discrimination whatsoever vis-à-vis the indigenous people. After the ruler was deposed in 1975 both “Padma Vibhushan Kazi” and “N.B. Bhandari” administrations continued the equal treatment and in fact even the current administration more or less continued the same policies till the passing of the Finance Act 2008 when Mr.Chidambaran was inveigled into pronouncing on the term “Sikkimese” in the Union Budget.

This opened a “Pandora’s box” and the “Chamling” government quickly started expanding on the term (Sikkimese and “Sikkim Subject”) to deprive a communally sensitive minority of their rights in a blatant attempt to try and foist an ethnically Nepalese state on the Indian union. (The indigenous people are a fast reducing minority who will like the Parsees soon face extinction and all the other communities have been deprived of Domicile status by a spate of bills in the Sikkim Assembly which even deprive them of Basic Human rights.)

Thus all others in spite of living in Sikkim for more than a hundred years are now not “Sikkim Subjects” ——all state protection and avenues of advancement are barred to them. (No hospital treatment/no educational benefits/no trade licenses/ no part in any state sponsored activity.)

In actual fact the Nepalese of unknown status(stateless according to petition of the “Bhandari” government in the petitions committee of Rajya Sabha) were granted both Indian citizenship and by a convoluted operative portion of the directive also became “Sikkim Subject’s” although “Sikkim Subject status” was specifically repealed by the Central Government when Sikkim joined the Indian Union .There cannot legally be any recognition of any status beyond “Indian Citizen” or “State Domicile” as these are the only two recognized status for a citizen of India.

However cleverly the above ‘Sikkimese” status pronounced by Mr. Chidamabaran is now being used as a logic to bestow citizenship (central government’s prerogative) in the state of Sikkim. The “Chamling” Government has in effect allowed Stateless persons to acquire a status above the actual Domiciled people of the state—a special citizenship granted by the state government. Any special status for foreigner’s would certainly in years to come translate into a fertile ground for anti –India forces to claim and proclaim sovereignty and other such mischievous claims in Sikkim.

Conclusion.

The fate of Jammu after Prime Minister Pandit Nehru’s tribe were thrown out and where today no Indians are left to protect or project India’s claims will surely descend on Sikkim too.

The constitutional anarchy attempted by the ‘Chamling” government in trying to foist a Nepalese population as absolute rulers on the minority indigenous Sikkimese and their natural allies “The Old Sikkimese of other than Nepalese origins” must and will result in the fall of the government for unconstitutional practices as soon as the central government or the Supreme court applies its mind to the subject as at the least basic protection under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India have been blatantly flouted.

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Rating: -1 (from 1 vote) simple citizen says:
December 10, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Mr. Tashi Pemba,
Your statements on Sikkim politics-Sikkim Subject should have been directed towards the settlement of Income Tax exemption to the Old Business Community of Sikkim but you ultimately concentrated on Nepali bashing only.You only treated The Sikkimese Nepalese as outcome of Influx from outside and treated them as foreigners on this land where the Nepalese have also given their fair share of contribution towards the making of Sikkim.As to the accusations of marginalization of our Indigenous Tribal brothers , They were mistreated, exploited, suppressed by their own Natural Allies before the coming of the Nepalese.On the questions of Stateless persons being given citizenship, they were exploited by the erstwhile Royals, Aristocracy and being poor and illiterate were never given a citizen’s status.Their being accorded Citizenship status is an act of Natural and Social justice.Lopsided comments on the unalienable rights of any community is another form of disguised “Communalism”. Our attention should be towards A better change in Sikkim where all communities enjoy equal rights and harmony.

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Rating: +1 (from 1 vote) daju says:
December 11, 2009 at 4:30 am
mr pemba ur article was really interesting n i do agree to it to a large extent…
n simple citizen wat i feel is u have misunderstood it and took it in a communal manner..But with due respect he hs clearly mentioned that people in sikkim who have been there before 1974 ought to be treated equally whether nepali tibetan bihari marwari or any other migrant alongwith the indigenous people of sikkim.
n d situation hs reached to such an extent that ppl from outside the state have been recognised as sikkim subject holdrs jst beccos they owe similaruty in appearance and language…
it is matter of grave concern if it is being done just to garner votes for d netas…
jst like in bengal, the bangladeshis are illegally acquiring indian citizenship through these dirty politicians as they have similarities in language and appearance.
its high time that all the sikkimese people unite and rise against these disturbing and distorting trends and this can only be done if it s done by keeping the cheap politics aside…

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Rating: +1 (from 1 vote) simple citizen says:
December 11, 2009 at 9:57 am
Dear Daju,
The comments on the well researched article by Shri.Tashi Pemba was not perceived in a communal colour and it was not intended for hurting anybody, but some lines on the above mentioned article could have been stated in a more harmonious manner keeping the sensitivities of other people . No malice intended.

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Rating: +1 (from 1 vote) Save sikkim says:
December 11, 2009 at 10:53 am
Hello everyone, lets not be immature to discuss about nepali and bhutia when the politician are trying their best to create disharmony among we brothers……..let the old settlers get their demand,afterall even they have contributed a lot for sikkim….bottomline is we are indian and we need to be one and fight for a common cause,so cheers guys and look forward for chamlings downfall…

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Rating: +1 (from 1 vote) barun says:
July 27, 2010 at 4:29 am
hey to all u people, hey lets not cry over what is being done or what is supposed to be be done or what ought to be done.
Since childhood we have been brought up with a notion saying all that is done is supposed to be for a better purpose. It may bee a boon and a blessing in disguise.
All i want to say is that the law makers must have come upon a common cause and the bill was unanimously passed.
If it is a vested interest let their karma act on their behalf.
“viva sikkim”

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