New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and chairman of the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) of the Manipur assembly Dinganglung Gangmei has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Manipur high court’s recent order directing the state government to recommend granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the state’s majority community, the Meiteis, to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.On April 20, a single-judge bench of the high court comprising Acting Chief Justice M.V. Murlidharan directed the N. Biren Singh government to recommend to the Union tribal affairs ministry that ST status be extended also to the Meiteis. The order said the recommendation must be sent by May 19.Currently, only the tribes hailing from the hill districts of the northeastern border state are on the ST list. The bench was hearing a petition filed by members of the Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union, a group formed to demand ST status to the community.The court’s order was keeping in mind the ministry’s letter to the Manipur government a decade ago to recommend the same, which the then Congress government stayed away from. The Justice Murlidharan order of April 20 said, “Nothing has been produced by the respondents, particularly the respondent State to show that they sent reply to the letter dated 29.5.2013 of the Government of India, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Thus, the issue of inclusion of Meetei/Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes list of the Constituion is pending for nearly ten years and above.” It further said, “No satisfactory explanation is forthcoming from the side of the respondent State for not submitting the recommendation for the last 10 years. Therefore, it would be appropriate to direct the respondent State to submit its recommendation to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs within a reasonable time.”Gangmei, a BJP MLA from the state’s Nungba constituency in Tamenglong district, was among tribal leaders of the state who criticised the high court order. He had also circulated a public statement against the order, leading Justice Murlidharan to issue a contempt notice which directed the state director general of police to ensure his “personal appearance” along with the president of the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) for a organising tribal solidarity march against the ST status demand. ATSUM had also issued a press note criticising the high court order.The HAC exists within the state assembly as part of Article 371 C of the Constitution. All MLAS representing constituencies from the state’s hill districts are members of the HAC. On April 20, the HAC had passed a resolution stating that it “is perturbed/ aggrieved” by the high court order “inspite of strong opposition” to it. “In the matter, the HAC as a constitutional body of the hill areas of Manipur was neither made party to the case nor consulted.” It further said, “it is pertinent to mention that the Meitei/Meetei community are already protected under Constitution of India and categorized as (i) General (ii) Other Backward Classes (iii) and Scheduled Caste. In view of the above, the committee unanimously resolved to urge the Government of Manipur and the Government of India to go for appeals against” the high court order “taking into accounts the sentiments and interests/rights of the Scheduled Tribes of Manipur.”With the state witnessing unprecedented violence between the tribal and the non-tribal population springing out of the demand since May 3, the HAC chairman has now approached the Supreme Court with a special leave petition (SLP) hinged on an argument that directing the state government to recommend a tribe for inclusion in the ST List is solely within the jurisdiction of the state and not the high court. The SLP has also indicated that the unprecedented unrest witnessed in the state that caused displacement of thousands of people, loss of property and life took place after the high court order. The SLP said, “Due to the impugned order tension between both the community have taken place and violent clashes have erupted across the state. As a result of it so far 19 tribal people have been killed, various places in the state are blocked, internet is completely shut down and more people are at the risk of losing their lives.” Several non-tribals were also affected by the violence, with many losing their lives and property destroyed.Arguing against the April 20 high court order and also the contempt notice issued against him, the petitioner said, “the honourable High Court ought to have realized that this was a political problem in which the High Court had no role to play and the political disputes had to be resolved politically. By getting into the political arena and making a categorical order that the State Government is directed to submit a recommendation for the inclusion of the Meeteis/Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribe List to the Central Government, the High Court ambiguously and in all probability inadvertently gave rise to strong misgivings and worries and tensions among the tribals.” The petition further said, “…the High Court certainly, knowing the tenuous situation in the state ought not to have made the order passed. Taking out the contempt is certainly not the way forward,” thus appealing to the SC to quash it too.Gangmei also questioned the argument placed by the petitioners in the Manipur high court that the tribal status to the Meiteis was left out during the Manipur kingdom’s merger with the Union of India and the community is also a tribe. The BJP MLA said, “In fact, they are very much an advanced community though some of them may come within SC, OBC.” The SLP further said the high court made the “error” of “concluding that the Meiteis are tribes”.The Wire has learnt that Gangmei had approached the apex court for an “urgent hearing” of the petition on May 4, keeping in sight the escalating violence in the northeastern state, but it couldn’t be done as it was a court holiday owing to Buddha Purnima.