Sikkim governor forwards petition to ECI seeking disqualification of 14 SDF MLAs for holding office of profit

Gangtok: Sikkim governor N Shrinivas Patil has forwarded a petition to the Election Commission of India seeking disqualification of 14 MLAs of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) for holding office of profit. A former MP Pahalman Subba, Navin Kiran and others had petitioned Governor Patil two days ago urging him to seek the opinion of the Election Commission before passing a final order under Article 192 of the Constitution on disqualification of 14 MLAs of Sikkim Legislative Assembly. “I am directed to intimate that your petitions regarding disqualification of 14 MLAs of Sikkim Legislative Assembly under Entry 4, Second Schedule of the Sikkim Government Rules of Business read with Article 192 of the constitution have been forwarded to the Election Commission of India,” Thakur Thapa, Additional Secretary to the Governor, wrote to Navin Kiran, one of the petitioners. A copy of the letter is available with PTI. [caption id=“attachment_308751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling. Image courtesy: PIB[/caption] The 14 MLAs whose disqualification has been demanded for holding office of profit are Danorbu Sherpa, Karma Sonam Lepcha, Tilu Gurung, Sonam Dadul Bhutia, Ugen Nedup Bhutia, Shyam Pradhan, Hemendra Adhikari, Gopal Baraily, Mechung Bhutia, Pintso Chopel Lepcha, Timothy William Basnet, all of them Parliamentary Secretaries, Bek Bahadur Rai (PAC Chairman), Chandra Maya Subba (Estimates Committee Chairperson) and Bikram Pradhan (SDF Chief Whip), who has subsequently resigned. The petitioners had also apprised the governor that the Sikkim High Court, vide an order dated, 25 August, 2017, had declared the post of parliamentary secretaries as unconstitutional. The governor’s decision to forward the petitions to the ECI may have serious repercussions on the Pawan Kumar Chamling government if assembly membership of these 14 MLAs were to be set aside in the near future. The Chamling government has 29 MLAs in 32-member house, while the opposition Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) has two MLAs, besides RN Chamling, an independent MLA. The SDF refused to comment on the development. When contacted, the SDF spokesperson and ex-Speaker KT Gyaltsen said, “We have nothing to say in the matter under consideration by the constitutional authorities.”