IMPHAL: The Manipur High Court revised its own order dated March 27, 2023, by eliminating Paragraph 17(iii), which had directed the state government to consider including Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list.
This decision on February 21, comes amidst the ongoing ethnic conflict between the Meiteis and tribal Kuki-Zo communities, which was reportedly triggered by the contentious paragraph.
The paragraph in question instructed the state government to expedite the consideration of the Meitei community’s inclusion in the Scheduled Tribe list, a direction that had drawn scrutiny from the Supreme Court following appeals from tribal bodies against the High Court’s order last year.
The aftermath of the order saw swift reactions from tribal bodies, such as the All Manipur Tribal Students’ Union, who promptly appealed the entirety of the March 2023 order in the High Court.
Meanwhile, the original petitioners from the Meitei community filed a review petition, solely seeking the modification of Paragraph 17(iii) while contesting the tribal bodies’ right to appeal.
The review petition, heard by Justice Golmei Gaiphulshillu, dismissed the tribal bodies’ application to intervene in the case and issued its verdict on Wednesday.
The court, noting that Paragraph 17(iii) conflicted with observations made by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, decided to remove it altogether, as opposed to merely altering the language to grant discretion to the state government.
However, advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing tribal bodies, argued that despite the deletion, the order’s effect remains unchanged, as the state government is still directed to respond to the Centre regarding inclusion in the ST list.
He maintained that their appeal challenges the entirety of the order and not just one paragraph.
Throughout the proceedings, neither the Manipur government nor the Centre submitted a counter-affidavit, stating they had not received instructions from their authorities.
Meanwhile, tensions escalated further as members of the All Manipur Bar Association and Manipur High Court staged a day-long sit-in protest in Imphal against the unauthorised entry of the Rapid Action Force following an agitation by women activists at the Cheirap court complex on February 20.
