Justice Golmei Gaiphulshillu of the High Court said that the paragraph in the order needs to be reviewed. “I am satisfied and of the view that the direction given at Paragraph No. 17 (iii) of the Hon’ble Single Judge dated 27.03.2023 needs to be reviewed,” the judge observed.
TFM Report
The Manipur High Court on Wednesday ordered the removal of a paragraph from its order that directed the state government to consider the inclusion of Meitei/Meetei in Scheduled Tribe list.
A single-judge bench of MV Muralidharan, who was the then high court’s chief justice, passed a judgement on a petition by members of the Meitei Tribes Union on March 27. The judgement had drawn criticisms from various quarters, including the Supreme Court. Several organisations led by the All Manipur Tribal Union had moved the High Court on May 3, seeking permission to file a third-party appeal against the March order.
The High Court order of March 27 last year, which was made public in April, played a key role in triggering the ongoing ethnic conflict between the Meitei and the tribal Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur compelling the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the issue.
In October last year, a division bench of the Manipur High Court had agreed to 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.
The original petitioners – in whose case the direction was passed by Justice Muralidaran, filed a review plea 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.
On Wednesday, Justice Golmei Gaiphulshillu of the High Court said that the paragraph in the order needs to be reviewed. “I am satisfied and of the view that the direction given at Paragraph No. 17 (iii) of the Hon’ble Single Judge dated 27.03.2023 needs to be reviewed, as the direction is against the observation made in the Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” the court noted.