1. Manipur High Court removes directive from its March 2023 judgment regarding Meiteis’ ST status consideration.
2. The directive’s removal follows a review petition amidst ethnic conflict over the ST status issue.
3. The court cites legal limitations and Supreme Court precedent in its decision to delete the directive.
Imphal, Feb 22: The Manipur High Court has taken a significant step by removing a paragraph from its March 2023 judgment.
It previously directed the state government to consider including Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list.
The contentious judgment from March 2023 had reportedly ignited ethnic tensions in Manipur, leading to clashes between the Meiteis and the tribal Kuki-Zo communities over the issue of ST status.
In response to a review petition against the March 2023 ruling, the high court has now ordered the removal of Paragraph 17(iii), which had instructed the Manipur government to contemplate adding Meiteis to the ST list.
The now-deleted paragraph indicated that the State government would swiftly consider including the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list.
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However, the court cited a Supreme Court decision in ‘State of Maharashtra -vs- Milind and Others’, emphasizing that courts lack the jurisdiction to determine the inclusion or exclusion of specific cases, sub-castes, groups, or parts of tribes or sub-tribes in the Presidential Orders under Articles 341 and 342.
The Supreme Court had noted that these orders could only be amended or varied by a law enacted by Parliament, as stated in Clause (2) of the said Article.
The high court arrived at its decision to delete the paragraph after a careful examination of the procedure outlined by the Centre for inclusion in or exclusion from the list of Scheduled Tribes, as detailed in Clause (g) of the Annual Report, 2013-14 of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, along with the Constitutional Bench’s decision in State of Maharashtra V.Milind & Ors.
The court’s order read, “I am satisfied and of the view that the direction given at Para No. 17(iii) of the Hon’ble Single Judge dated 27.03.2023 passed in W.P.(C) No. 229 of 2023 which is impugned herein needs to be reviewed, as the direction given at Para No. 17(iii) of the Hon’ble Single Judge is against the observation made in the Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Accordingly, the direction given at Para No. 17(iii) needs to be deleted and is ordered accordingly for deletion of Para No. 17(iii) of the judgment and order dated 27.03.2023 passed in W.P.(C) No. 229 of 2023.”
