Gangtok: Ahead of the protest rally called by the Joint Action Council, it’s general secretary Keshav Sapkota was attacked on Saturday by unidentified miscreants at Singtam in Sikkim’s Gangtok district.
The Joint Action Council (JAC) had earlier decided to organise a protest rally on April 8 at Singtam as a mark of protest against the expansion of the ‘Sikkimese’ definition in Section 10 (26AAA) of Income Tax Act 1961 under the Finance Bill 2023.
According to JAC, this expansion of the definition is in violation of the tripartite agreement of May 8, 1973, between the then Chogyal, political parties, and the Government of India.
JAC has been protesting against the expansion of ‘Sikkimese’ term to make way for Income Tax Exemption for the old settlers of Sikkim.
The expansion happened in the recent Finance Bill passed in the Lok Sabha along with the Supreme Court’s verdict on January 13 in a case filed for IT exemption by old settlers.
Sapkota was immediately rushed to the nearest Singtam District Hospital. Later, he was referred to Central Referral Hospital in Gangtok as he sustained head and neck injuries.
In view of the attack on JAC general secretary Keshav Sapkota, Section 144 has been imposed in Singtam town. Besides, Sikkim Police has been deployed at Singtam town to prevent the situation from escalating.
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Notably, the vehicle of former legislator Mechung Bhutia of the Sikkim Democratic Front party was also attacked by miscreants in Singtam town.
JAC had been opposing the expansion for the past months and with the recent Finance Bill, the council had called for a protest rally to unite Sikkimese people against the expansion and demanded that the Sikkimese term be defined as per the old laws under Article 371F.
“I was attacked from behind. They also attacked my vehicle before fleeing. They might have placed some weapons in my vehicle which I request the police to come and check. I couldn’t see who attacked me but there were 3 to 4 individuals. I was heading from Singtam town towards South Sikkim when I was attacked. I was with some people whom I had dropped at the JAC rally and was on my way to park the vehicle,” Bhutia said.
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