Once the oath is taken, Article 361 shields a Governor from criminal proceedings, the Sikkim Bar Association points out in asking the President to defer Dushyant Kumar Gautam’s swearing-in, and it says its plea is institutional and does not prejudge anyone’s guilt.
Gangtok: Ahead of Dushyant Kumar Gautam’s oath as the 21st Governor of Sikkim on October 19, the Bar Association of Sikkim, the Sikkim Bar Association, urged President Droupadi Murmu to defer the swearing-in and to keep his appointment warrant in abeyance until concerns linked to the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case are addressed [Representation of the Bar Association of Sikkim to the President on Governor-designate Dushyant Kumar Gautam].
The oath of office was administered to Gautam, a senior BJP leader and former national general secretary of the party, by Chief Justice A Muhamed Mustaque of the Sikkim High Court. Association president Tashi Rapten Burfungpa said the objection was institutional and not a personal allegation.
The case behind the representation
Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist at a resort in Rishikesh, was murdered in September 2022. In May 2025 a Kotdwar court convicted resort owner Pulkit Arya and two others and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Her family and opposition leaders have since alleged that an unnamed “VIP” was linked to the case, and the family has sought a CBI probe.
Gautam was named Governor of Sikkim on October 12. On October 14 the victim’s parents sat in protest at India Gate and asked the President to put the appointment on hold, joined by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Protests were also held in Delhi and Dehradun on the day of the oath. The allegation linking Gautam to the case is unproven.
He has denied it, and he has not been named in the chargesheet. In January 2026, in a defamation suit filed by him, the Delhi High Court directed the Congress, the AAP and several social media platforms to take down posts linking him to the case, describing the allegations as prima facie defamatory. That was an interim order in a civil suit and not a finding in the murder case.
What the Association told the President
As the representation puts it, the Governor’s office is the highest constitutional seat in the State, and public probity requires a controversy to be cleared before the oath and not after it. According to the Association, Gautam’s name had repeatedly come up in public controversy and in demands for an investigation into the 2022 case, and proceeding under an unresolved cloud could weaken the dignity of the office and public confidence in its neutrality.
The office of the Governor is the highest constitutional seat in the State.
Tashi Rapten Burfungpa, President, Bar Association of Sikkim
The Association also pointed to Article 361 of the Constitution. In its view, once the oath is subscribed the Article shields the Governor from criminal proceedings, which would create a constitutional impasse if the controversy were still unresolved. It stressed that it was not declaring Gautam guilty and that its intervention should not be read as a verdict.
The constitutional provisions
The President appoints a Governor by warrant under Article 155, and the Governor holds office during the President’s pleasure under Article 156. Article 159 requires an oath or affirmation before the Governor enters office. Article 361(2) says no criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against a Governor in any court during the term of office, and Article 361(3) bars process for the Governor’s arrest or imprisonment in that period. The immunity attaches to the term of office and is not a finding on any allegation.
Where each side stands
The Association, the victim’s family and opposition leaders say the appointment should have waited until the controversy was resolved. Gautam denies any link to the case, and no court has made a finding against him. LawChakra has not seen any response from Rashtrapati Bhavan to the Association’s representation. This report expresses no view on the merits of the allegations, which are untested.
Matter: Representation of the Bar Association of Sikkim (High Court and Subordinate Courts) to the President of India on Governor-designate Dushyant Kumar Gautam
Oath administered by: Chief Justice A Muhamed Mustaque, Sikkim High Court
Date: October 19, 2026 (oath of office)
Appearances: Not applicable (representation, not a court proceeding)