Sikkim, during the British days, was a princely State under a hereditary monarch called Chogyal, subject to British paramountcy. The Chogyal, also described as Maharaja, was a member of the chamber of Princes entitled to gun salute of 15. The provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935 were applicable and Sikkim thus did not have any attribute of sovereignty of its own. On the independence of India in 1947 there was a public demand in Sikkim for merger with India which was resisted by the Rulers.
There was a strong and clearly expressed sentiment on the part of the people of Sikkim favouring closer relations with India and’ growth of genuine democratic institutions which led to large scale agitations demanding merger with India. However, the Government of India did not favour an immediate change in Sikkim’s status, and, therefore, only a treaty was entered into between Sikkim and the Government of India whereunder the latter assumed the responsibility with respect to the defence, external affairs and communication of Sikkim on the terms detailed in the document dated 3.12.1950.
Chogyal, thereafter, took several steps towards sharing his power with the people by providing for elections. The public demand developed into violent demonstrations leading to complete breakdown of law and order, which forced the then Chogyal to request the Government of India to assume the responsibility for establishment of law and order and good administration in Sikkim. Ultimately a formal agreement was signed on May 8, 1973 to which the Government of India, the then Chogyal and the leaders of the political parties representing the people of Sikkim, were parties.
The Agreement with Sikkim
One of the clauses of the Agreement reads as follows:
“(1) The three parties hereby recognize and undertake to ensure the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Sikkim. The people of Sikkim will enjoy the right of election on the basis of adult suffrage to give effect to the principles of one man one vote.”
Ethnic Groups in Sikkim and their Representation
The population of Sikkim has been constituted mainly by three ethnic groups known as Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalis. People from India also have been going to and settling in Sikkim but their number was small before 1973. Although the population of Nepalis has been far larger than the Lepchas and the Bhutias, their influence in the polity was considerably less as Chogyal was a Bhutia and with a view to perpetuate his hold, there was a consistent policy for uniting Lepchas and Bhutias as against the rest.
On the lapse of British paramountcy and in its place the substitution of the protectorate of India, Chogyal in an attempt to assuage the public sentiment, issued a Proclamation providing for establishment of a State Council of 12 members, allocating 6 seats to Bhutia and Lepchas and 6 to Nepalis, all to be elected by the voters divided in 4 territorial constituencies. Only after a few months a second Proclamation followed on March 23, 1953, adding seats for 6 more members with one of them as President of the Council to be nominated by the Maharaja, i.e., Chogyal.
Thus the total number rose to 18. Maharaja, however, reserved his right to veto any decision by the Council and to substitute it by his own. Another Proclamation which was issued in 1957 again maintained the parity of 6 seats each for Bhutia-Lepchas and Nepalis. By a further Proclamation dated 16.3.1958, there was an addition of 2 more seats to the Council, one described as Sangha seat earmarked for religious Budhist Monasteries run by Monks who are Lamas, and another declared as general seat.
Thus, for the first time in 1958 Chogyal, by creating a general seat took note of the presence of the immigrants who were neither Bhutia- Lepchas nor Nepalis and were mostly Indians. He also introduced the Lamas in the Council as he was sure of their support for him. Appended to the Proclamation, there was a Note of the Private Secretary to the Chogyal. The Note is in three sub-paras dealing with the Sangha seat, the general seat and the question of parity between the Bhutia-Lepchas and the Nepalis.
It was mentioned in the first sub-para (a) that the Sangha constituted a vital and important role in the life of the community in Sikkim and had played a major part in taking of decisions by the Councils in the past. In sub-para (b) it has been stated that the political parties have been demanding one-third of the total seats in the Council to be made available to all persons having fixed habitation in Sikkim although not belonging to any of the categories of Bhutias-Lepchas and Nepalis, and the Maharaja by a partial concession had allowed one seat for the general people.
The last sub-para declares the desire of the Maharaja that the Government of Sikkim should be carried on equally by the two groups of the Bhutia-Lepchas and Nepalis, without one community imposing itself or encroaching upon the other.
By a later Proclamation dated December 21, 1966 the Sikkim Council was reconstituted with a total number of 24 members, out of whom 14 were to be elected from 5 territorial constituencies, reserving 7 seats for Bhutia- Lepchas and 7 seats for Nepalis; one by the Scheduled Castes, one by the Tsongs, and one was to be treated as a general seat. The Sangha seat was maintained, to be filled up by election through an Electoral College of the Sang has and the remaining 6 seats to be nominated by the Chogyal as before.
Agitation of People in favour of merger with India
In spite of the establishment of the Sikkim Council, the ultimate power to govern remained concentrated in the hands of Chogyal, who besides having the right to nominate 6 members in the Council, reserved to himself the authority to veto as also of taking final decision in any matter. The people could not be satisfied with this arrangement, and as said earlier, there was widespread violent demonstrations and complete collapse of law and order which forced the Chogyal to approach the Government of India to take control of the situation.
The 3 parties namely the Chogyal, the people of Sikkim represented by the leaders of the political parties, and the Government of India were ultimately able to arrive at the terms as included in the Tripartite Agreement of 8.5.1973 and the authority of Chogyal was considerably reduced. The preamble in the agreement specifically mentioned that the people of Sikkim had decided to adopt,
“A system of elections based on adult suffrage which will give equitable representation to all sections of the people on the basis of the principle of one man one vote.”
It was further said that with a view to achieve this objective, the Chogyal as well as the representatives of the people had requested the Government of India to take necessary steps. The first paragraph dealing with the Basic Rights declared that the people of Sikkim would enjoy the right of election on the basis of adult suffrage to give effect to the principle of one man one vote.
Another provision of this agreement to be found in the 5th paragraph which reads as follows:
“The system of elections shall be so organised as to make the Assembly adequately representative of the various sections of the population. The size and composition of the Assembly and of the Executive Council shall be such as may be prescribed from time to time, care being taken to ensure that no single section of the population acquires a dominating position due mainly to its ethnic origin, and’ that the rights and interests of the Sikkimese Bhutia Lepcha origin and of the Sikkimese Nepali, which includes Tsong and Scheduled Caste origin, are fully protected.”
The next Proclamation which is relevant in this regard was issued on the 5th of February, 1974 and was named as the Representation of Sikkim Subjects Act, 1974. It directed the formation of Sikkim Assembly consisting of 32 elected members 31 to be elected from 31 territorial constituencies and one Sangha constituency to elect one member through an Electoral College of Sanghas. The break- up of the 32 seats is given in section 3, directing that 16 constituencies including one for the Sangha were to be reserved for Bhutia-Lepchas, and the remaining 16 including one for Tsongs and another for the Scheduled Castes for Nepalis. As a result the general seat disappeared.
A further Act was passed the same year in the month of July by the newly constituted Sikkim Assembly emphasising once more the decision of the people to hold the elections to the Assembly “on the basis of one man one vote”, that is to say every person who on the prescribed date was a Subject of Sikkim, was not below the prescribed age and was not otherwise disqualified under the Act was entitled to be registered as voter at any future election.
The Assembly which was established under the 1974 Act was vested with larger powers than the Council earlier had, and the fight for effective power between Chogyal and the people entered the crucial stage. The main party, Sikkim Congress, representing the people captured 31 out of 32 seats at the poll at the election held in pursuance of the agreement, and it is significant that its elections manifesto went on to state: “We also aspire to achieve the same democratic rights and institutions that the people of India have enjoyed for a quarter of century.”
Referendum
Ultimately a special opinion poll was conducted by the Government of Sikkim and an unambiguous verdict was returned by the people in favour of Sikkim’s joining and becoming a part of the Indian Union.
In pursuance of this development the Constitution of India was amended by the Constitution (Thirty-Fifth Amendment) Act, 1974, inserting Article 2A which made Sikkim associated with the Union of India on certain terms and conditions. The amendment came into force in February 1975. On the 10th of April, 1975 the Sikkim Assembly passed another momentous resolution abolishing the institution of Chogyal and declaring that Sikkim would henceforth be a constituent unit of India, enjoying a democratic and fully responsible government.
A request was made in the resolution to the Government of India to take the necessary measures. Accordingly the Constitution was further amended by the Constitution (Thirty-Sixth Amendment) Act, 1975 which became effective in May, 1975. As a result of this constitutional amendment Sikkim completely merged in the Union of India.
By the Thirty-Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, Sikkim was, as mentioned earlier, merely associated with the Union of India by insertion of Article 2A on the terms and conditions set out separately in a schedule added as the Tenth Schedule. Certain amendments were made in Articles 80 and 81 also.
By the Thirty-Sixth Amendment of the Constitution, a full merger of Sikkim with Union of India was effected by adding Sikkim as Entry 22 in the First Schedule of the Constitution under the heading “1. The State‘.
Further, some special provisions were made in a newly added Article 371F. Article 2A, the Tenth Schedule, and certain other provisions in some of the Articles were omitted.
In 1978 the Bhutia-Lepchas were declared as Scheduled Tribes in relation to the State of Sikkim by a Presidential Order issued under clause (1) of Article 342 of the Constitution of India, and they thus became entitled to the benefits of reservation of seats in the State legislature in accordance with Article 332.
The consequential reservation in the state legislature were made in the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Representation of the People Act, 1951, twice by the Act 10 of 1976 and the Act 8 of 1980, but not consistent with clause (3) of Article 332 which is in the following terms “332 Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assemblies of the States.-
(1)……………………………………
(2)…………………………………….
(3) The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of any State under clause (1) shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in the Assembly as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or of the Scheduled Tribes in the State or part of the State, as the case may be, in respect of which seats are so reserved, bears to the total population of the State.”
Out of the total seats of 32 in the House, 12 have been reserved for Sikkimese of Bhutia-Lepcha origin and one seat for the Sanghas by clauses (a) and (c) respectively of the newly inserted sub-section (1A) in section 7 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Dealing further with the Sangha seat it is provided in section 25A of the 1950 Act that there would be a Sangha constituency in the State and only Sanghas belonging to Monasteries recognised for the purpose of elections held in Sikkim in April, 1974 shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll, and the said electoral roll shall be prepared or revised in such a manner as may be directed by the Election Commission.
Consequently amendments were made by inserting section 5A in the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The extent of each constituency and the reservation of seats were initially directed to follow the position immediately before the merger under the Thirty-Sixth Amendment of the Constitution, and later amendments were made in this regard in the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 1976. The amended provisions of sub- section (3) of section 7 dealt with (besides dealing with Arunachal Pradesh) this matter.
Reference
R.C. Poudyal v. Union of India (1993)