The Supreme Court in a judgment, held that exclusion of Sikkimese women who marry non-Sikkimese men after April 1, 2008 from exemptions under the Income Tax Act is unconstitutional and amounts to gender discrimination.

What is the news?

• The top court’s verdict came on appeal filed by the Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim and others seeking striking down of Section 10(26AAA) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• More particularly, the definition of “Sikkimese” in Section 10 (26AAA) to the extent it excludes Indians who have settled in Sikkim prior to the merger of Sikkim with India on April 26, 1975.

The story of Sikkim

• Sikkim witnessed 333 years monarchical rule of Namgyal dynasty under whose reign there many invasions, foreign interference, accession and annexation.
• On 28th March, 1861 Sikkim became a formal protectorate of the British Government and on 16th May, 1975 it became the 22nd state of the Indian Union.
• In erstwhile Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, no legal rights were conferred to Sikkimese women.
• However, after Sikkim’s merger with India such Regulations relating to Sikkim citizenship have become futile and non-operational.

How women rights in Sikkim are different from that of mainstream India?

The status of rights conferred to Sikkimese women is different from that of women in India. Certain conditionality were imposed upon their property or inheritance right such as the following:

1. Immovable property inherited, gifted or purchased by women married to non-locals cannot be transferred and registered in their names.
2. Immovable property of a Sikkimese woman cannot be transferred or registered to her legal heirs if her husband is non-Sikkimese.
3. Mandatory requirement for Sikkimese women to submit an “unmarried certificate in all government procedures”.
4. Identity of women is to be based on the identity of not one, but two men. A Sikkimese woman will be considered Sikkimese only if both, her father and husband are also Sikkimese

Issues with such regulations

• Unconstitutional: The discrimination is based on gender, which is wholly violative of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.
• Gendered bias: It is to be noted that there is no disqualification for a Sikkim man, who marries a non-Sikkimese after April 1, 2008.
• Associating identity to marriage: A woman is not a chattel and has an identity of her own, and the mere factum of being married ought not to take away that identity,” Justice Shah wrote.
• No legal basis: Sikkim has become a part of India and all Sikkim Subjects and all Sikkimese domiciled in the territory of Sikkim have become Indian citizens.

Note: Article 14 relates to equality before law, while Article 15 forbids discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and Article 21 provides for right to life and personal liberty.

Way ahead

• Legal reforms: The centre shall make an amendment to Explanation to Section 10 (26AAA) of IT Act, 1961, so as to suitably include a clause to extend the exemption from payment of income tax to all Indian citizens domiciled in Sikkim on or before April 26, 1975.
• Ensure parity: The reason for such a direction is to save the explanation from unconstitutionality and to ensure parity in the facts and circumstances of the case.

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It was on May 16, 1975 that Sikkim became 22nd state of the Union of India.

Why in news?

• While in many modern narratives, the tale of the former kingdom under the Namgyal dynasty acquiring Indian statehood begins in decades close to the 1970s.
• The real story, according to experts, can only be understood by tracing the events back to 1640s when Namgyal rule was first established.

Sikkim’s accession into India: A complete timeline

(1) Attacks during Namgyal Rule

• Beginning with Phuntsog Namgyal, the first chogyal (monarch), the Namgyal dynasty ruled Sikkim until 1975.
• At one point, the kingdom of Sikkim included the Chumbi valley (part of China now) and Darjeeling.
• In the early 1700s, the region saw a series of conflicts between Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet, which resulted in a shrinking of Sikkim’s territorial boundaries.

(2) Under East India Company

• When the British arrived, their expansion plans in the Indian subcontinent included controlling the Himalayan states.
• The kingdom of Nepal, meanwhile, continued with its attempts to expand its territory.
• This resulted in the Anglo-Nepalese war (November, 1814 to March, 1816), also known as the Gorkha war, which was fought between the Gorkhali army and the East India Company.
• Both sides had ambitious expansion plans for the strategically important mountainous north of the Indian subcontinent.
• In 1814, Sikkim allied with the East India Company in the latter’s campaign against Nepal.
• The Company won and restored to Sikkim some of the territories that Nepal had wrested from it in 1780.

(3) Administrative control of British

• A turning point in the history of Sikkim involves with the appointment of John Claude White as Political Officer of Sikkim.
• Sikkim by then was a British Protectorate under the Treaty of Tumlong signed in March, 1861.
• As with most of the Indian subcontinent that the British had under their administrative control, the kingdom of Sikkim, although a protectorate, had little choice in the administration of its own kingdom.
• The Namgyal monarch could not criticise decisions made by the British, but the ruler did complain about this influx of Nepali migrants into the kingdom.

(4) Scenario after 1947

• Three years after India’s Independence in 1947, Sikkim became a protectorate of India.
• In 1950, a treaty was signed between the then Sikkim monarch Tashi Namgyal and India’s then Political Officer in Sikkim, Harishwar Dayal.
• A clause in the treaty read: “Sikkim shall continue to be a Protectorate of India and, subject to the provisions of this Treaty, shall enjoy autonomy in regard to its internal affairs.”

(5) Chinese invasion of Tibet

• China’s invasion of Tibet in 1949 and Nepal’s attacks on Sikkim throughout the kingdom’s history were cited as reasons why the kingdom needed the support and protection of a powerful ally.
• Further, the talk of persecution of Tibetans after China’s arrival at the scene generated fear of the possibility of Sikkim suffering a similar fate.

(6) Dalai Lama’s Arrival

• In March 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet.
• After the Dalai Lama reached Indian borders, he and his entourage settled at the Tawang monastery in Arunachal Pradesh.
• A month later, he travelled to Mussoorie, where he met then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to discuss the future of the Tibetan refugees who had travelled with him.
• The repercussions of India’s decision to welcome and give refuge to the Dalai Lama sent a message to some in Sikkim that unlike China, aligning with India would guarantee their protection and security.
• This was the perspective of the ruling elite in Sikkim.

(7) Public discontent against monarchy

• The period between the 1950s and the 1970s marked growing discontent in Sikkim.
• Primarily, there was anger against the monarchy because of growing inequality and feudal control.
• Anti-monarchy protests grew in 1973, following which the royal palace was surrounded by thousands of protesters.
• Indian troops arrived after the monarch was left with no choice but to ask New Delhi to send assistance.
• Finally, a tripartite agreement was signed in the same year between the chogyal, the Indian government, and three major political parties, so that major political reforms could be introduced.

(8) Attempts for constitutional development

• A year later, in 1974, elections were held, where the Sikkim State Congress led by Kazi Lhendup Dorji won, defeating pro-independence parties.
• That year, a new constitution was adopted, which restricted the role of the monarch to a titular post, which Palden Thondup Namgyal bitterly resented.
• In the same year, India upgraded Sikkim’s status from protectorate to “associated state”, allotting to it one seat each in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• Opposed to the move, the monarch attempted to bring international attention to it soon after.

(9) Finally accession into India

• A referendum was held in 1975 where an overwhelming majority voted in favour of abolishing the monarchy and joining India.
• A total 59,637 voted in favour of abolishing the monarchy and joining India, with only 1,496 voting against.
• Sikkim’s new parliament, led by Kazi Lhendup Dorjee, proposed a bill for Sikkim to become an Indian state, which was accepted by the Indian government.

Also try this PYQ:

Q.The latitudes that pass through Sikkim also pass through:

(a) Rajasthan

(b) Punjab

(c) Himachal Pradesh

(d) Jammu & Kashmir

 

Post your answers here.

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Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya has recently announced his political demand for a new state called ‘Greater Tipraland’.

Try this:

Q.New-age ethnic politics in North East is driving demands for separate statehood movements in India. Discuss.

What is Greater Tipraland?

• ‘Greater Tipraland’ is essentially an extension of the ruling tribal partner Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura – IPFT’s demand of Tipraland, which sought a separate state for tribals of Tripura.
• The new demand seeks to include every tribal person living in an indigenous area or village outside the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) under the proposed model.
• However, the idea doesn’t restrict to simply the Tripura tribal council areas but seeks to include ‘Tiprasa’ of Tripuris spread across different states of India like Assam, Mizoram etc. as well.
• It seeks to include even those living in Bandarban, Chittagong, Khagrachari and other bordering areas of neighbouring Bangladesh.

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