The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, the ruling party in the state, has said that the government will approach the Supreme Court seeking the removal of a reference to the Sikkimese Nepali community as “foreigners” from a recent judgement, East Mojo reported on Sunday.

On January 13, a bench comprising Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathn held that Indians who had settled in Sikkim on or before April 26, 1975 – the date on which the state merged with India – will be entitled to be exempt from income tax. The court allowed a writ petition filed by the Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim, according to Live Law.

The association had challenged the definition of “Sikkimese” under Section 10 (26AAA) of the Income Tax to the extent that it excluded Indians who had settled in Sikkim before its merger with the rest of the country.

On January 27, Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang welcomed the Supreme Court judgement, but said that the government has initiated steps to file a petition seeking to expunge references to the Sikkimese Nepali community as “foreigners”.

After the judgement, Opposition parties and social organisations had accused Tamang of being silent about the reference to the community.

The chief minister, however, said that the allegations were unfounded. He said that the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, as the ruling party, cannot make statements on any subject without properly studying it, according to East Mojo.

A press release from the SKM noted that the Association of Old Settlers of Sikkim had filed an application seeking to amend its petition to remove references to the Sikkimese Nepali community as foreigners. The party said that the court had allowed the petitioners to amend the petition.

“It appears that while dictating the judgement mentioned above on January 13, the judges erroneously overlooked the amended petition,” the party said.