The All Manipur Tribal Union is not an aggrieved party and thus has no locus standi to file an appeal against the March 27 order of the Manipur High Court that directed the State government to recommend the inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes list, the Manipur Government on June 26 submitted before a Division Bench of Justices Ahanthem Bimol Singh and A. Guneshwar Sharma.
The Division Bench is currently hearing an appeal against the March 27 order of Acting Chief Justice M.V. Muralidharan, which became the immediate trigger for the ethnic conflict that began in the State on May 3 between the dominant Meitei community and and the tribal Kuki-Zomi community.
On June 26, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves appeared on behalf of the AMTU and concluded arguments on the appeal. The State government, represented by Additional Advocate-General M. Devananda, also submitted its arguments opposing the third-party appeal filed by the tribal body.
