Chamling appears before Patra Commission of Enquiry

GANGTOK, 29 Nov: Chief Minister Pawan Chamling today appeared before the Patra Commission of Enquiry to reply to and clarify allegations leveled against him by the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee. The Patra Commission, it may be recalled, was instituted in January 2011 to enquire into allegations leveled against the Chief Minister and his Cabinet Ministers by the SPCC in its official publications. The Commission is chaired former Chief Justice, High Court of Sikkim, Justice RK Patra.
A press communiqué issued by the Sikkim Democratic Front spokesperson, Bhim Dahal, underlines: “Shri Pawan Chamling, as a true democrat, today appeared before the Commission and presented his points. This is a unique occasion in Indian polity that an incumbent Chief Minister has appeared before the Commission to respond the allegations leveled by political opponents.”
Holding up this latest development as being “completely in conformity with the rule of law and democratic values”, Mr. Dahal adds that these are virtues that the Chief Minister has been “ever adhering to”.
Sources inform that the CM deposed before the Commission for around 40 minutes, presenting his statement on allegations leveled against him by the Congress in its official mouthpiece publication in the year 2010.
This deposition, it may be added here, is in addition to the detailed report already submitted to the Commission by the Chief Minister and is [former] Cabinet colleagues named in the publication in question.
Earlier this year, Justice Patra had issued summons to the Sikkim Pradesh Congress Committee (SPCC) members involved in the publication of the magazine in question to appear before the Commission with their allegations and supporting documents. SPCC president Nar Bahadur Bhandari and Congress youth leader Avinash Yakha and two others refused to depose before the Commission [in May 2012] while another Congress member has moved the High Court challenging the appointment of the Patra Commission of Enquiry.