The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Tsirang Dzongkhag Court has issued its verdict in the Damphu Building Case, in which the Dzongkhag Administration and the municipality had cut off water and electricity to the building located in Damphu town. This action was taken after the basement of the building was used as an area to host religious gatherings of 30 to 40 people every Sunday.
The municipality stated that the basement was designated for a karaoke hall and, therefore, could not be used for such gatherings. When the building’s owner, Rajen Tamang, did not stop the gatherings, the authorities disconnected water and electricity to the entire building.
The water supply to the building was cut off on the morning of 15 October 2024, followed by the disconnection of electricity on 28 October 2024, both on the orders of the Chairman of the Municipality, who is also the Dzongda.
Following this, Rajen Tamang filed a case in the Tsirang Dzongkhag Court on 29 October, requesting the reconnection of water and electricity to his building. He also sought compensation of Nu 318,000 from the Dzongkhag Administration for waived rents, water pipe expenses, and generator hire charges. In addition, he requested that an earlier Nu 100,000 fine imposed for the construction of a wall be waived.
While the case was ongoing, the Tsirang Dzongkhag Court, on 3 December, issued a temporary order directing the Dzongkhag Administration and the municipality to restore water and electricity, to the building. However, this was considered an interim relief, and the final verdict remained uncertain at the time.
In a relief for Rajen Tamang, the Tsirang Dzongkhag Court, in its final verdict, confirmed that the temporary order for reconnection of water and electricity was now permanent.
The Dzongkhag’s assertion that the basement was designated for a karaoke hall was dismissed after Rajen produced an occupancy certificate signed by the Dzongda himself. The certificate allocated the basement for commercial use with no mention of a karaoke hall.
The karaoke hall had only been mentioned in some earlier drawings but the basement was never finalized as a karaoke hall. This means that the Tsirang Dzongkhag Administration and municipality had not done their homework and essentially cut power and water to the building on wrong grounds.
The Court said that there was no legal agreement or document to show the basement to be a karaoke hall and even a site visit by the Court did not find any karaoke hall.
The Court declined to ask the Dzongkhag Administration to give the Nu 318,000 compensation to Rajen as these were the estimates taken out by Rajen and the court had not been asked to calculate the compensation.
The Court also did not waive of the Nu 100,000 fine that Rajen had paid earlier to the municipality for the construction of a wall he had to later demolish. Rajen said he had spent Nu 230,500 for the wall and so the Nu 100,000 fine should be deducted from construction cost of his wall.
The Court said that any construction other than approved shall be demolished at risk and cost of defaulter as per the rules.
The Dzongkhag Administration during the trial requested the Court to impose a fine of Nu 450,000 on Rajen for using the karaoke hall for a different purpose as per the Rules and Regulations for the Places of Entertainment. The court refused to impose the fine.
In the trial, the Dzongkhag Administration complained to the Court that Rajen was talking to The Bhutanese and impacting the image of the Dzongkhag. The Dzongkhag wanted the coverage to be stopped and Rajen to give an apology letter.
The Court, in its verdict, said that it cannot stop freedom of expression as the public will assume there is no freedom of expression, and moreover, it is enshrined in Article 7 of the Constitution.
The court finally called on both parties to follow all the relevant laws and rules.
The verdict did not touch on the issue of the religious gathering. This is because early in the trial, Rajen tried to bring it up as a freedom of religion issue, to which the court asked him to file a constitutional case in the High Court.
Rajen had requested the High Court to allow religious gatherings in his basement on the basis of freedom of religion.
The High Court said that they examined the Local Government Act 2009, Local Government Amendment Act 2014, Bhutan Municipal Act 1999 and Bhutan Building Regulation 2018.
The High Court said that based on the above, the Dzongkhag Administration has issued an occupancy certificate for the particular karaoke hall to be used only as a karaoke hall (now discovered to just be a basement for commercial use), and so there is no grounds of appeal.
The High Court citing section 32.1 (c) of the Civil and Criminal Procedure Code dismissed the Constitutional case.
Rajen said he accepts the judgment of the Tsirang District Court and will not appeal, choosing to prioritise harmony, although he is disappointed that no compensation was awarded. He added that he would not have filed the case at all if the Dzongkhag Administration had not cut off water and electricity to his building. He also mentioned that he had attempted to resolve the matter amicably, but the Dzongkhag did not cooperate.
It all started on 11 July 2024 when the Dzongda summoned Rajen and warned him against organizing unauthorized public gathering in the building.
The Dzongda on 8 October then sent two letters. The first letter said that Rajen was having unauthorized public gathering in the building which is not allowed, and it is also his duty under the Local Government Act to maintain law and order and peace and harmony.
It says that failure to abide by the above will mean being dealt by the existing law of the nation.
A second letter took up the issue of the karaoke hall being used for other purposes than what it was authorized for and said that water and power could be cut off.
While the Tsirang Dzongkhag Administration and municipality was maintaining it is a municipality and building usage issue, as well as one of unauthorized gatherings, what really seems to have sparked of such action is fears that Rajen is engaged in conversions. This is the larger context of allegations that the religion in question is spreading in the south using in part the lure of economic benefit.
Rajen, on his end, denied engaging in any conversion and said he is ready to face legal prosecution if there is evidence, and he said he is instead serving people who are already in his faith. He said there are similar gatherings in other Gewogs of Tsirang and even other Dzongkhags, but why is he only being targeted.
With the Dzongkhag Administration and municipality’s karaoke angle coming to naught, Rajen now has the option to obtain any commercial license that allows the gathering of people in the basement, and legally the Dzongkhag will not have much of a say.
The case had drawn some international attention due to the harsh actions of the Dzongkhag Administration and municipality, but the judicial order to reconnect water and power shows that justice has been done. The Damphu case is also a rare standout as generally there are such religious gatherings across Bhutan every Sunday which happens without any official action being taken against them.
