Gangtok: Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Dilli Ram Thapa termed the amendment of Sikkim Public Demands Recovery Bill ‘draconian.’
When the Bill was being passed for amendment in the Assembly, Thapa questioned, “Why there is no room for appeal? Why the District Collector is made Supreme Court Judge, is the DC a God? Why is so much power given to the DC? There is no room for cross-examination and a fair trial is not there. It appears as a violation of natural law. The trial by the DC will be quasi-judicial. There is no natural justice, hence this amendment needs to be made right. In Sikkim people can mortgage the land for a loan, but what about the defaulters from outside the State? There is no provision for that.”
The Sikkim Public Demands Recovery Act, 2006 was enacted to recover public demands from people who were defaulting in paying various government revenues and dues including debts taken from the State Bank of Sikkim on time.
The amendment with the insertion of new section 4A Procedure after applications is made before the Certificate Officer (DC) mentions, “Summary procedure shall be adopted under this Act for adjudication of the dispute. Evidence shall be taken on affidavit and cross-examination shall not be permitted except in a few deserving cases”. The new amendment has furthermore new insertions – 4B, 4C, 4D, 6A, 6B, 10A, 12A, 13A, 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D, 14E, 14F, 14G and 15A.
Speaking with EastMojo after the Assembly was adjourned, Thapa said, “I think the biggest concern is towards the lack of cross-examination, it should be a fair trial. Even the Judge of the Supreme Court is not final with his verdict. There is room for cross-examination with International courts and law. So, how can this amendment give such power to the DC that cross-examination cannot be carried out? Equally, this amendment questions how recovery will be made from outside the State. These were some of the concerns that the government needed to look upon.”
The powers of the certificate officer or the District Collector as mentioned in the gazette dating back to June 2008, mentions that every certificate officer shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for the purpose of sections 345, 346, and 347 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Every Civil Officer for the purpose of enquiry into any dispute relating to the issue of certificate for money shall have same powers as conferred on the Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, in respect of – enforcing attendance of any person and examining him on oath. Compelling and production of documents and material objects. Issuing commissions for purpose of examination of witness and every inquiry shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of section 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Despite the questions raised by the Upper Burtuk legislator, the Sikkim Public Demands Recovery Amendment Bill was passed in the Assembly. In his response to the discussion placed by legislator Thapa, Land Revenue & Disaster Management minister K.N. Lepcha defended, “Sikkim Public Demands Recovery Bill was passed in 2006. But we are trying to make it more stringent after careful consideration. The State Bank of Sikkim is the banking system of the State government. The loans taken, the money must return. The stringent action is only against willful defaulters. However, the government will look into the suggestions and they will be accepted to give some space to the defaulters. We are trying to ensure loan recovery that is unlike any other State. The attempt is at solving the issues of defaulters money without having to Court and as such the issue can be resolved by the District Collector himself”.
However, the State Bank of Sikkim welcomed the amendment of Sikkim Public Demands Recovery. Speaking with local media, Managing Director PW Bhutia stated, “The Sikkim Public Demand Recovery Act,2006 was very small whereby the area of coverage was limited. The government with a view of bringing about an act at par with the rest of the nation, an amendment was initiated. The act is not just for the SBS, SBS is one of the beneficiaries of the act. The act will be applicable in all the revenue-due sectors of the government for recoveries like electricity, water taxes and others. When it comes to SBS rules like SARFAESI Act, 2002 which empowers the banks to attach properties on their own without having to go to any court, the said acts and rule is not applicable in SBS. We needed a strong act but this doesn’t mean by implementing such an act the government or SBS wants to harass the loaners or customers. Those defaulters who knowingly are defaulting their repayment need to be cautious, as per the act necessary strong action can be initiated for recovery. The government by passing the amended act is trying to send a strong message to the people of Sikkim that with this act in place all the escape routes of the defaulters who know are violating the repayments are blocked and action would be initiated as per the law”.
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