Manipur violence: Before Supreme Court, plea for probe, challenge to HC order

Pleas before the Supreme Court

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud is hearing a bunch of pleas on the Manipur issue. One has been filed by Manipur Tribal Forum, an NGO, seeking a Special Investigative Team to probe the violence that ripped through the north-eastern state last week. This PIL has sought a range of directions, including deployment of central forces for the protection of churches and other places of worship, compensation to the victims, and reconstruction of buildings damaged in the violence.

Personnel of Army and Assam Rifles rescue people from the violence-hit areas after tribal groups’ protest over court order on Scheduled Tribe status, in Imphal. (PTI/File Photo)

A second petition has been filed by Dinganglung Gangmei, a BJP MLA and the chairman of the Hill Area Committee (HAC) of the Manipur Legislative Assembly. The HAC is empowered to monitor legislation and administration of the hill areas of the state, and has all MLAs from the hill districts as its members.

This plea challenged the Manipur High Court order on granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community, alleging there were “mistakes“ in that order.

It said that the High Court order erroneously directed the state to make a recommendation to the Centre to include the Meitei community among Scheduled Tribes. It also said it is incorrect to record in the order that the inclusion of Meiteis in the ST list has been pending for nearly 10 years, and in concluding that the Meiteis are a tribe.

Gangmei’s plea said the Meitei community are “advanced”, although some of them may fall within the Scheduled Caste or Other Backward Classes category. The plea also argues that the High Court order “could not have been given without notice to the HAC and hearing the HAC.”

People stranded in Churachandpur reunite with their families in Imphal on Monday, after the first mass movement between the two areas since clashes erupted. (Express photo by Jimmy Leivon)

Gangmei’s plea also cited a 2001 SC ruling, State of Maharashtra vs. Milind, which held that “it is not open to State Governments or courts or tribunals or any other authority to modify, amend or alter the list of Scheduled Tribes specified in the notification issued under Clause (1) of Article 342.”

The Manipur High Court order

On March 27, Acting Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, MV Muralidharan, allowed a petition filed by several members of the Meitei Tribe Union. This plea sought a direction to the Manipur government to submit a recommendation to the Centre for including the community in the Scheduled Tribes list within four weeks.

The petition contended that the community had tribal status before September 21, 1949, when India signed a merger agreement with Manipur. After the merger, the Meiteis were left out of the ST list. The ST identity would help “preserve the said community and save access to land, tradition, culture, and language,” the plea argued.

In its order, the High Court said that the Meitei Tribe Union had submitted a representation to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for inclusion in the ST list on April 18, 2022. On May 31 of the same year, the Union ministry forwarded the representation to the Manipur government.

Noting that a response from the state was still pending, the court said that “it is clear that there appears to be a recommendation of the state government that is pending for inclusion of the Meetei/Meitei community in the schedule Tribes list of the Constitution of India.”

“At this juncture, the learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the Government of Manipur has been totally violating the right to equality and right to life with dignity which are enshrined under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, as in the case of other tribe of the State, the State Government had recommended without any hesitation but in the case of the Meitei community which are also one of the major/principal tribe of Manipur are not recommended by the State Government. This Court finds some force in the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioners, as the petitioners and other Unions are fighting long years for inclusion of Meetei/Meitei community in the tribe list of Manipur,” the HC order read.

The order also directed that the state “shall consider the case of the petitioners for inclusion of the Meetei/Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe list, expeditiously, preferably within a period of four weeks in terms of the averments set out in the writ petition and in the line of the order passed in WP(C) No 4281 of 2002 dated 26.05.2003 by the Gauhati High Court.”

In the order, the Court noted that in 2003, in a similar case, following an order of the Gauhati High Court, Chongthu, Khoibu and Mate communities were included in the list of scheduled tribes. In that case, the HC recorded that the state had agreed to examine the proposals related to five communities and include them in the ST list “if found eligible.” Three out of five were subsequently granted ST status.