GANGTOK, 28 Nov: Elections for the central executive committee of the All Sikkim Government Employees Association [Group C and D] has been stayed by the lower Courts. According to an order passed by the Principal District Judge, East Sikkim, the election has been restrained by the court following a motion moved by CB Rai of the Drivers’ Association which is also a member association of the ASGEA.
The Court has also issued a showcause to the respondents, six in all, to appear in person or through pleader before it on 05 December. They are also to file their showcause “…as to why the exparte ad interim injunction as prayed for the Appellant/ Plaintiff should not be confirmed, failing wherein the said injunction will be heard and determined exparte”.
The order was issued on 27 November, Wednesday. The six respondents include Phursang Lepcha, the chief election commissioner for the ASGEA polls, Narsing Rai, Sikkim Subordinate Accounts Service Associaton, Laxmi Tamang and Chultim Bhutia. They have also been restrained from “…proceeding with the election process… until the hearing of this Appeal or until the further Orders of this Court”. The election date had earlier been set for 07 December.
The election process for the CEC of the ASGEA has been mired in controversy for a while now with two contesting groups. On 27 November, the same day that the lower court passed its stay order, there was a meeting of the constituent units at the ASGEA office in Gangtok. While details of the meeting are not available it seems there was an attempt to find a consensus candidate for the post of Chairman. This seems to have failed as there are two candidates contesting for this post in Phurzang Lepcha and Minguir Bhutia. In the recent past, one of the aspiring candidates for the post of Chairman of the CEC had found himself facing objections to his candidature; it was only through a court directive that he could clear his name and is now contesting for Chairmanship.
Current office bearers, when contacted, stated that they had no idea on the reason or issue behind which the court had been approached by CB Rai and the subsequent stay order issued by the court. This, despite the fact that they are required to reply to the show cause on 5 December. Other sources inform that the issue is primarily to do with the membership drive. While there are around 27,000 state government employees in the C and D categories who are eligible to be members of the ASGEA, the total membership of the association is just above 3,000. There seems to be an allegation being made that the membership drive has been so conducted as to limit the number of members. This, however, is not confirmed.
On the other hand, a press release issued by the ASGEA states that the election has been deferred upon requests by both contesting teams to postpone the last date for membership registration drive up to 24 December. Following such requests, the release issued by Narsing Rai, informs that the Election Commission had consented to this appeal and hence, the scheduled date for the election, 07 December, had been deferred.
The Court has also issued a showcause to the respondents, six in all, to appear in person or through pleader before it on 05 December. They are also to file their showcause “…as to why the exparte ad interim injunction as prayed for the Appellant/ Plaintiff should not be confirmed, failing wherein the said injunction will be heard and determined exparte”.
The order was issued on 27 November, Wednesday. The six respondents include Phursang Lepcha, the chief election commissioner for the ASGEA polls, Narsing Rai, Sikkim Subordinate Accounts Service Associaton, Laxmi Tamang and Chultim Bhutia. They have also been restrained from “…proceeding with the election process… until the hearing of this Appeal or until the further Orders of this Court”. The election date had earlier been set for 07 December.
The election process for the CEC of the ASGEA has been mired in controversy for a while now with two contesting groups. On 27 November, the same day that the lower court passed its stay order, there was a meeting of the constituent units at the ASGEA office in Gangtok. While details of the meeting are not available it seems there was an attempt to find a consensus candidate for the post of Chairman. This seems to have failed as there are two candidates contesting for this post in Phurzang Lepcha and Minguir Bhutia. In the recent past, one of the aspiring candidates for the post of Chairman of the CEC had found himself facing objections to his candidature; it was only through a court directive that he could clear his name and is now contesting for Chairmanship.
Current office bearers, when contacted, stated that they had no idea on the reason or issue behind which the court had been approached by CB Rai and the subsequent stay order issued by the court. This, despite the fact that they are required to reply to the show cause on 5 December. Other sources inform that the issue is primarily to do with the membership drive. While there are around 27,000 state government employees in the C and D categories who are eligible to be members of the ASGEA, the total membership of the association is just above 3,000. There seems to be an allegation being made that the membership drive has been so conducted as to limit the number of members. This, however, is not confirmed.
On the other hand, a press release issued by the ASGEA states that the election has been deferred upon requests by both contesting teams to postpone the last date for membership registration drive up to 24 December. Following such requests, the release issued by Narsing Rai, informs that the Election Commission had consented to this appeal and hence, the scheduled date for the election, 07 December, had been deferred.
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