State cannot ignore ministry letter on ST demand: Advocate
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, February 23 2024:
Advocate Ningombam Bhu-penda of High Court of Manipur said that the state government is mandated by the court's judgment to provide a response, in the form of recommendation, to a 2013 letter from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs concerning the demand for granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meetei/Meitei community.
In a communique sent to The People's Chronicle, advocate Bhupenda stressed the need of reading two judgments arising from Writ Petition No 229 of 2023 and Review Petition No 12 of 2023 together, instead of reading one judgment and interpreting it partially.
He argued that as per the High Court's judgment on Writ Petition No 229 of 2023, there are four clauses in Para 17, and in that very Para 17, which is the operative part of the judgment, only Para 17 cause (iii) stands deleted in the recent judgment of the High Court in Review Petition No 12 of 2023.The Review Petition judgment did not delete the remaining paras (i), (ii) and (iv), and more importantly Para 17 clause (ii) still survives in the Writ Petition No 229 of 2023.As per the Para 17 clause (ii) of the Writ Petition, the judgment says that "The first respondent is directed to submit the recommendation in reply to the letter dated 29.5.2013 of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India".
In the said Writ Petition, the first respondent is the state of Manipur.
So, it is still operative to say that the state government of Manipur is directed by the High Court's judgment and order of Writ Petition No.229 of 2023, in its Para 17(ii), to submit the recommendation in reply to the 2013 letter of the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs on ST demand for Meetei, Bhupenda elaborated.
He further argued that a mere recommendation by the state government cannot be equated with inclusion of the community in the ST list as the enlistment is to be done by Parliament only through a constitutional amendment..
Bhupenda also contended that the High Court has rightly deleted Para 17 (iii) of the Writ Petition through the Review Petition as the said Para was against the already settled law by Constitution Bench on the authority and jurisdiction of Parliament only to decide on the enlisting or delisting of communities from ST category.
He further pointed out that neither the Supreme Court nor the High Court has the authority to include or exclude a community in Scheduled Tribe List, as it the prerogative of the Parliament to take a call on the matter.