Manipur High Court reviews order that sparked riots; deletes direction to include Meitei community in Scheduled Tribe list

The Manipur High Court has deleted its direction to the State government to consider including the Meitei community in the list of the Scheduled Tribes (STs), months after the verdict sparked violence in the State [Mutum Churamani Meetei vs State of Manipur and ors]..Justice Golmei Gaiphulshillu stated that that the direction in question was contrary to the Supreme Court’s decision in State of Maharashtra v. Milind & Ors, in which the top court had observed that courts cannot modify, amend or alter the ST list."Accordingly, the direction given at Para No. 17(iii) needs to be deleted and is ordered accordingly for deletion," the High Court directed in its judgment delivered on Wednesday. .The now-deleted para in question in the judgment under review had stated:"The first respondent 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 from the date of receipt of a copy of this order in terms of the averments set out in the writ petition and in the line of the order passed in W.P.(C) No. 4281 of 2002 dated 26.05.2003 by the Gauhati High Court.".The earlier direction was part of a judgment passed on March 27, 2023 by former Acting Chief Justice MV Muralidaran, in which the High Court had asked the State to consider the inclusion of Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Manipur.The direction had led to widespread violence in the State, leading the Supreme Court to eventually take suo motu cognisance of the issue. Justice Muralidaran was subsequently transferred to the Calcutta High Court..In October last year, a division bench of the Manipur High Court had agreed hear an appeal filed against the controversial order. The appeal was moved by the All Manipur Tribal Union and various groups who argued that groups associated with the rights of the tribal community were not a party to the writ petition in which the 2023 direction was passed.It was further contended that the 2023 judgment has adversely affected the fundamental and constitutional rights of 34 recognized tribes in Manipur. Moreover, it was argued that the Meitei community, being dominant and economically, politically and educationally advanced, would grab a majority of the ST-reserved seats including in the Legislative Assembly as a result of the High Court's direction.The original petitioners - in whose case the direction was passed by Justice Muralidaran - had maintained that no rights of the groups representing the tribal community were adversely affected by the judgment..Meanwhile, a review plea was also filed before the High Court, in which the Meitei petitioners submitted that an "innocuous" direction in the March 2023 order may have to be modified considering the delicate nature of the issue. The review petitioners still sought for the State to consider the inclusion of Meiteis in the ST list, but added that it was completely up to the wisdom of the State to take a call on the issue. .Justice Gaiphulshillu has now passed an order on this review plea by deleting the controversial direction."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 the 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," the judge explained. .Senior Advocate M Hemchandra with Advocates N Jotendro, Ajoy Pebam, and M Rendy represented the Meitei parties before the High Court.Special Counsel M Rarry appeared for the State of Manipur, and Deputy Solicitor General of Kh. Samarjit appeared for the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry..[Read Judgment]