Presidential Order Of Scheduled Tribes List Can't Be Tinkered With By Court: Madras HC Dismisses Plea To Include Gudugudupukarar Caste In ST List

Observing that the presidential order of the Scheduled Tribes list cannot be tinkered with by the court, the bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy added that granting such relief will be beyond the purview of the court. The court further said that the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes had the authority to see whether a particular tribe was under the parameters of Scheduled Tribe.

“It would be beyond the purview of this Court to issue any direction as sought by the petitioner. The Presidential order of Scheduled Tribes list cannot be tinkered with by the Court. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes is the authority to consider whether a particular tribe comes under the parameters of a particular Scheduled Tribe. It is for the petitioner to take appropriate steps in that regard,” the court observed.

The plea was filed by one R Rajamani seeking directions to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to include the caste “Gudugudupukarar” in the list of Scheduled Tribes for the state of Tamil Nadu under Article 342 of the Constitution. Alternatively, the petitioner sought directions treating the Gudugudupukarar caste synonymous to Hindu Kanikkars in Serial No. 7 of the List of Schedules Tribes in the State of Tamil Nadu on par with some of the Gudugudupukarar children of Ramanathapuram, Vellore, and Kanchipuram District.

Rajamani argued that even after 75 years of Independence, the people belonging to the community were not getting the benefit of either Scheduled Tribe or other Tribe and were not found in any lists. It was also submitted that given the Anthropologist report, they could also not be considered as Hindu Kanikkar and thus sought appropriate directions.

However, since the matter was beyond the court's purview, the court dismissed the same.

Counsel for the Petitioner: Ms.Karthikaa Ashok

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr.S.N.Parthasarathy Senior Panel Counsel for respondent No.1, Mr.A.Edwin Prabakar State Government Pleader for respondents 2 to 6

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 111

Case Title: R Rajamani v Union of India and Others

Case No: W.P.No.4696 of 2024