Representation of People Act, 1950:

Sections 7(1-A) and 25A (As inserted by Election Laws Extension to Sikkim) Act, 1976 and Representation of People (Amendment) Act, 1980 Constitutional validity of. 

Representation of People Act, 1951:

Section SA(2) (As inserted by the Representation of People (Amendment)) Act, 1980-Constitutional validity of 

Sikkim Assembly-Reservation of 12 seats out of 32 seats for Sikkimese of "Bhutia-Lepcha" origin-Whether violative of Articles 14, 170(2) and Ciause (5) of Article 371-F-Whether violative of Indian Constitutionalism Whether violative of Principle of Republicanism Extent of reservation of  seats Whether disproportionate and violative of Article 332(3).

Reservation of one seat in favour of 'Sangha (Buddhist Lamaic Religious Monastries) with provision for election on the basis of separate electoral roll Whether based on pure religious distinction Whether violative of Articles 15(1) and 325-Provision of reservation of Sangha sear-Whether to be construed as a nomination.

Constitution of India, 1950:

Articles 1(3)(c), 2, 3, and 4.

Admission of a new State into Indian Union-Power of Parliament to impose terms and conditions Constitutional limitations on power of Parliament What are Terms and conditions of admission of new State-Justiciability of Doctrine of Political question-Applicability of.

Expression "as it thinks fit" in Article 2-Meaning of.

Articles 15 and 325:

State Legislature Reservation of seats in favour of 'sangha (Buddhist Lamaic Religious Monasteries) with provision for maintenance of separate electoral to Whether violative of Articles 15 and 325.

 Article 371-F-Non-obstante clause-Scope and effect of

Clause (Whether violative of Basic Features of Democracy Whether violates 'one person, one vote not enshrined in Article 170(2) Whether enables departure from Article 332(3)

Article 332 State Legislature Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Clause (3) Words As nearly as May be Scope of-Whether permit deviation from prescribed proportion of Reservation.

Words and Phrases

Democratic Republic Democracy' and 'Democratic Meaning of.

On May 8, 1973, a tripartite agreement was executed amongst the Chogyal (Ruler) of Sikkim, the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India and the leaders of the political parties representing the people of Sikkim which envisaged right of people of Sikkim to elections on the basis of adult suffrage, contemplated setting up of a Legislative Assembly in Sikkim to be reconstituted by election every four years and declared a commitment to free and fair elections to be overseen by a representative of the Election Commission of India. Para (5) of the said agreement provided that the system of elections shall be so organised as to make the Assembly adequately representative of the various sections of the popula- tion The size and composition of the Assembly and of the Executive Council shall be such as may be prescribed from time to time, care being taken to ensure that no single section of the population acquires a dominating position due mainly to its ethnic origin, and that the rights and interests of the Sikkimese Bhutia Lepcha origin and of the Sikkimese Nepali, which includes Tsong and Scheduled Caste origin, are fully protected. This agreement was effectuated by a Royal Proclamation called the Representation of Sikkim Subjects Act, 1974, issued by the Ruler of Sikkim. It directed the formation of Sikkim Assembly consisting of 32 elected members 31 to be elected from territorial constituencies and one Sangha constituency to elect one member through on electoral college of Sanghas. Consequently, elections for the Sikkim Assembly were held in April 1974. The Sikkim Assembly so elected and constituted passed the Government of Sikkim Act, 1974, Section 7 of the said Act gave recognition to paragraph 5 of the tripartite agreement dated May 8, 1973. In pursuance of this development the Constitution of India was amended by the Constitution (Thirty-Fifth Amendment) Act, 1974 inserting Article 2A which made Sikkim an "Associate State with the Union of India. On 10th April, 1975, the Sikkim Assembly passed a resolution abolishing the institution of Chogyal and declared that Sikkim would henceforth be a constituent unit of India enjoying a democratic and fully responsible Government. A request was made in the resolution to the Government of India to take the necessary measures. By an opinion poll the said resolution was affirmed by the people of Sikkim. Accordingly, the Constitution was further amended by the Constitution (Thirty-Sixth Amendment) Act, 1975 whereby Sikkim became a full-fledged State in the Union of India and Article 371-F was inserted in the Constitution which envisaged certain special conditions for the admission of Sikkim as a new State in the Union of India. Clause (f) of the said Article empowered Parliament to make provision for reservation of seats in the Sikkim Assembly for the purpose of protecting the rights and interests of the different sections of the population of Sikkim.

Thereafter Parliament enacted the Election Laws (Extension to Sikkim) Act, 1976 which sought to extend, with certain special provisions, the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to Sikkim. Further, the Bhutia-Lepchas were declared as Scheduled Tribes in relation to the State of Sikkim by a Presidential Order issued under Article 342 of the Constitution of India, and they thus became entitled to the benefits of reservation of seats in the State Legislature in accordance with Article 332. The consequential reservation in the State Legislature were made in the Representation of People Act, 1950 and Representation of People Act, 1951 by the 1976 Act and the Representation of People (Amendment) Act, 1980. Twelve seats out of thirty-two seats in the Sikkim Assembly were reserved for Sikkimese of Bhutia-Lepcha origin; and one seat was reserved for Sanghas, election to which was required to be conducted on the basis of a separate electoral roll in which only the Sanghas belonging to monasteries recognised for the purpose of elections held in Sikkim in April, 1974 were entitled to be registered.

The petitioners, Sikkimese of Nepali origin, filed petitions challenging the reservation of 12 seats for Sikkimese of "Bhutia-Lepcha" origin and one seat for "sangha".

Objections as to the maintainability of the writ petitions were taken on behalf of the State of Sikkim and the Union of India on the grounds: (a) that a law made under Article 2 containing the terms and conditions on which a new State is admitted in the Indian Union is, by its very nature, political involving matters of policy and, therefore, the terms and conditions contained in such a law are not justiciable on the political question doctrine; (b) in view of the non-obstante clause in Article 371-F, Parliament can enact such a law in derogation of the other provisions of the Constitution and the said law would not be open to challenge on the ground that it is violative of any other provisions of the Constitution.

On behalf of the petitioners it was contended (1) that the reservation of one seat in favour of the 'Sangha' (Bhuddhist Lamaic Religious Monasteries) is purely based on religious considerations and is violative of Articles 15(1) and 325 of the Constitution and offends the secular principles; the said reservation based on religion with a separate electorate at the religious monasteries is violative of basic structure of the Constitution; (2) that the provisions in clause (f) of Article 371-F enabling reservation of seats for sections of the people and law made in exercise of that power providing reservation of seats for Bhutias-Lepchas violate fundamental principles of democracy and republicanism under the Indian Constitution; (3) the reservation of seats for Sikkimese of Bhutia-Lepcha origin without making a corresponding reservation for Sikkimese of Nepali origin is violative of the right to equality guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution; (4) in view of the Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1978 declaring Bhutias-Lepchas as Scheduled Tribes, the extent of reservation of seats is disproportionate and violative of Article 332 (3) of the Constitution; and (5) that this departure from the provisions of Article 332(3) derogates from the principle of one man, one vote enshrined in Article 170(2) of the Constitution.

On behalf of the respondents it was contended (1) that although basically the monasteries are religious in nature, yet they form a separate section of the society on account of the social services they have been rendering mainly to the Bhutia-Lepcha section of the population. Viewed in this background they should not be treated as merely religious institutions for the purposes of reservation; (2) since the Constitution permits nomination to be made in the legislatures, the creation of a separate electorates for the Sangha seat cannot be objected to; (3) that the constitutional amendment bringing in Article 371F(f), as also the relevant amended provisions of the Representation of the People Acts are legal and valid because a perfect arithmetical equality of value of votes is not a constitutionally mandated imperative of democracy and secondly, that even if the impugned provisions made a departure from the tolerance limits and the constitutionally permissible latitudes, the discriminations arising are justifiable on the basis of the historical considerations peculiar to and characteristic of the evoluation of Sikkim's political institutions.

Dismissing the petitions, this Court.