By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, March 23: During the third day of the budget session on Wednesday, parliamentarians locked horns over the issue of the document no. 39, which impeached three justices in March last year. “The two existing judges have been reinstated unlawfully, and the resolution remains in the parliament, hence the judiciary shouldn’t be allotted any resources whatsoever,” MP Juchen Konchok Chodon said, while also opposing the administration’s tabling of budget for the TSJC.
The legitimacy of the judges and the document no. 39 became a much debated issue among the parliamentarians. MP Khenpo Kada Ngedup Sonam, MP Juchen Konchok Chodon opposed the two sitting judges of the TSJC and called their reinstatement illegal. However, Dawa Phunkyi opposed the call by noting that all 45 MPs would also be rendered unofficial representatives of the Tibetan parliament if the legitimacy of the judges is to be dismissed by the parliament.
The three month political deadlock last year was resolved through the intervention of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in October last year after a rare consensus was reached among the two opposing sides to approach the octogenarian Tibetan leader.
The heated exchange among the MPs was quelled by the Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel as he withdrew the deliberations over the budget for the TSJC to be discussed at a later date. The Speaker told the parliamentarians that an internal meeting has been scheduled for the said matter. The date for the meeting is yet to be ascertained.
The ongoing budget session until now discussed the allocation of the budget related to the finance and security departments of the Central Tibetan Administration including issues related to political prisoners’ rehabilitation program in Australia, the bureaucratic nature of the documents registration, and the delay in exit and return visas for Tibetans residing in India, among others. The budget session will go on until the end of March.
