The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Central government and the Telangana government on a plea challenging the inclusion of Lambada, Sugali and Banjara communities to the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Telangana [Tellam Venkata Rao and ors. vs. Union of India and Ors.].
A Bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Vijay Bishnoi issued notice to the Central and Telangana governments on a plea filed by four individuals, including Congress MLA Dr. Tellam Venkata Rao from the Bhadrachalam constituency and former Adilabad MP Soyam Bapu Rao (petitioners).
The petitioners moved the Court assailing the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Acts of 1976 and 2002, contending that the inclusion of Lambadas, Sugalis and Banjaras as Scheduled Tribes in Telangana was unconstitutional since it was done without following the procedure under Article 342 of the Constitution, which requires a Presidential notification in consultation with the State.
It was argued their sudden inclusion as STs has illegally conferred benefits upon them at the expense of long-recognized tribal groups in Telangana, drastically affecting reservations in education, public employment and political representation.
"The Lambadas, Sugalis and Banjaras are not Scheduled Tribes falling within the definition of a “Tribe”. Anthropological studies clearly demonstrate that the Lambadas, Sugalis and Banjaras are originally Kshatriyas and businessmen. However, without any enquiry and without any justification, they have been treated as Scheduled Tribes in the Telangana region of the then State of Andhra Pradesh. The recognition of Banjaras, Lambadas and Sugalis as Scheduled Tribes in the Telangana Districts of the State of Andhra Pradesh has resulted in an unprecedented exodus of the Banjaras, Lambadas and Sugalis from the neighboring State of Maharashtra and Rajasthan and other northern States into the Telangana Districts obviously for reaping the benefits available to the Scheduled Tribes in the matter of purchase of lands belonging to the original tribal people of Telangana, admissions to schools and colleges and in public employment and contesting for elective offices for the State legislature and the Parliament," it was contended.
As per the plea, in the erstwhile Hyderabad State (later Telangana region), these communities were historically classified as Backward Classes and continued to be treated as such until 1976.
According to the petitioners, these communities were comparatively more advanced in education and socio-economic status than the indigenous Scheduled Tribes.
Their subsequent inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes through the 1976 Amendment to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 was, therefore, arbitrary and unconstitutional, causing grave prejudice to the rights and opportunities of genuine tribal groups.
"During the past 50 years – right from 1976 to 2018 - most of the benefits meant for the indigenous/original tribal people like the petitioners have been utilized by the Lambadas and Sugalis, the communities who have been illegally come to become Scheduled Tribes without any socio-economic survey and without any assessment of the strata of their civilization vis-à-vis non-Sugali and non-Lambada communities and by ignoring the fact about their relative advancement to the original tribals which was the main reason for their non-inclusion from the beginning in the list of Scheduled Tribes and they were subsequently included in the list of Scheduled Tribes Order, 1950 by virtue of the 1976 Amendment," the plea said.
Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu and advocates Ramesh Allanki and Alahya Dhamiji appeared for the petitioners.
The petition was filed through advocate Aruna Gupta.