Gangtok, Aug. 3: Sixteen politicians from the Opposition, accused of breaching Section 144 and rioting during the agitation to stop the extension of the central employment exchange to the state in 1997, were given the “benefit of doubt” by the court of the chief judicial magistrate (West) at Geyzing.

The charges against them were dropped.

Sikkim Sangram Parishad chief Nar Bahadur Bhandari, state Pradesh Congress leaders Thukchuk Lachungpa, K. N. Upreti, P. D. Namgyal, Sikkim Ekta Manch president L. P. Tewari and former deputy chief minister P. T. Lucksom were among the accused.

Two of the accused, Sonam Dorjee and J. K. Bhandari, are sitting legislators of the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front.

The extension of the central employment exchange to the state had brought about the worst ever crisis for the Sikkim Democratic Front government since it took over the reins of the state in 1994.

A weeklong agitation, launched by unemployed and self-employed organisations, was later joined in by all opposition parties in the state. The Chamling government, in a bid to quell rising dissidence, subsequently withdrew the Act.

The Opposition leaders who lent their support to the agitation were charged with breaching Section 144 and rioting.

They were also accused under four different sections of the Indian Penal Code and for obstructing the police from performing their duties.

Lachungpa said the court decision, six years after the charges were brought against them, was a “big win for the Sikkimese”.

“It is also a win for everyone who took part in the agitation. It will be recorded in golden letters in Sikkim’s history,” he added.