Destruction of Documents Bill imperils democracy, BJP Sikkim claims

GANGTOK, 22 March: Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sikkim State president, Padam Bahadur Chettri, has dispatched memorandums to the President of India, Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Governor, Chief Minister and the Speaker, Sikkim Legislative Assembly, challenging the Sikkim Disposal and Destruction of Documents and Records Bill as a legislation which imperiled democracy in Sikkim.
Addressing a press conference today, Mr Chettri further informed that an all-party meeting is scheduled to be held soon to discuss the Bill and its implications. The Bill had potential to play substantial mischief, he believes.
Mr. Chettri has called on the Governor and the President not to grant assent to the Bill. “If the bill is signed, democracy in Sikkim will be in great danger and we will have no faith left in Indian democracy as practiced in Sikkim,” he stated.
He compared the latest Bill to the now withdrawn Public Order Bill, and alleged that the new Bill was an attempt by the Chief Minister to hoodwink the people of Sikkim and to destroy evidence of his massive corruption and to save himself from the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“This is his last effort to put an end to the good deeds [documents and records] of his political enemies. BJP Sikkim will not allow him to succeed,” he added.
He also stated that the pre-publication of the Bill in the Sikkim Government Gazette is required so that MLAs could read the Bill in advance and for discussions in public, but no such pre-publication was undertaken for this Bill.
Mr Chettri went on to argue that the High Court does not fall in the State List and went on to add that it was not principled for the government to interfere with the judiciary. The Bill has provisions for documents in the possession of the courts to also be destroyed on the recommendation of a specified authority. In the case of documents in the possession of the courts here, that authority, as per the Bill, is the High Court of Sikkim.
Mr. Chettri today demanded that all the records, especially on “convicts, corruption and the criminals” in the High Court of Sikkim and subordinate courts must be preserved at all cost.
On the clause in the Bill which specifies that documents “not of sufficient public value to justify their preservation” can be destroyed [on clearance by the appointed authority], Mr. Chettri enquired why, if a document is not worth preservation because it is not of sufficient public value, was it was created in the first place. In this regard, he also demanded to know the definition prescribed to identify documents which are worth preservation.