Key Points
The Sikkim Assembly on April 10 passed a resolution seeking clarification from the Centre on the expansion of the definition of Sikkimese in the recently passed Finance Act, 2023...
Dramatic scenes were witnessed as Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) supremo and former Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling was marshalled out of the House for disrupting Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang's reply...
Mr. Chamling, who was the CM for 25 years, charged his successor of "misleading" the House on the impact of the Finance Act on Article 371F, which grants special rights to Sikkimese people...
Consequently, 73-year-old Mr. Chamling was escorted out of the House, where in a brief media interaction, he insisted that the provisions of Article 371F applicable exclusively to Sikkim stood diluted after the enactment of the Finance Bill, 2023 by expanding the definition of Sikkimese people by including the old settlers and their descendants...
Later, addressing a press conference, the CM asserted that the rights of the Sikkimese people have not been compromised in any way and that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has clarified that the expansion of the Sikkimese definition was only for Income Tax exemption...
