As Manipur and Central governments claimed the State is returning to normalcy, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Monday wondered aloud why a 23-year-old Constitution Bench judgment which clearly held that no court or State has power to “add, subtract or modify” with the Scheduled Tribes List was not “shown” to the Manipur High Court in the first place.
Chief Justice Chandrachud orally said a High Court does not have the power to direct changes in the Scheduled Tribes List. “It is a Presidential power to designate a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe,” the Chief Justice observed.
Violent clashes and deaths followed in the days after a Single Judge Bench of the Manipur High Court, on March 27, directed that the State government “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”.
