NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to remove the remark in its ruling which indicated that the Nepali community settled in Sikkim are of “foreign origin”. The remark was made in the judgment in “Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim vs Union of India” by Justice B V Nagarathna wherein she while narrating the historical evolution of the modern-day Indian state of Sikkim vis-a-vis the development of its income tax regime, noted,
“There was no difference made out between the original inhabitants of Sikkim, namely, the Bhutia-Lepchas and the persons of foreign origin settled in Sikkim like the Nepalis or persons of Indian origin who had settled down in Sikkim generations back.”
The applications were filed seeking the removal of the foreigner tag from Sikkimese of Nepalese origin from the order dated January 13. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde along with advocate on record Anas Tanwir appeared for petitioners Bharat Basnett and RB Subba. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had also filed a petition in Supreme Court for rectification of the court’s observation on Sikkimese Nepalis.
A bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna while agreeing to remove the said observation in their order said, “MA has been filed seeking corrections as if error has occurred from the point of the court. However, having heard the parties, we think it is just and proper to correct certain words used in paragraph 10A and 68.8 in my judgment by making the following corrections.” The remarks had resulted in protests in Sikkim.
Collegium recommends appointments of CJs of Patna, HP, Gauhati & Tripura
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud has recommended the appointment of the chief justices of the high courts of Patna, Himachal Pradesh, Gauhati and Tripura. The collegium has appointed Justice K Vinod Chandran of the Kerala High Court for the Chief Justice of Patna High Court and Justice Sabina as the Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court. The collegium has also recommended Justice Sandeep Mehta as the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court and Justice Apresh Kumar Singh’s name as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Tripura.