Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Friday, August 29, issued a notice challenging a Telangana High Court order dated December 17, 2024, which disposed of a petition from a member of the Koya community arguing the constitutional validity of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status granted to Lambadi, Sugali, and Banjara communities.
The case was heard by a bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Ajay Bishnoi, who directed notices to be sent to both the Central and Telangana governments, reported Law Chakra.
The petitioner, a member of the Koya tribe, which is a constitutionally recognised Scheduled Tribe, had filed a writ petition under Article 226 before the Telangana High Court in 2016, challenging the ST status given to the Lambadi, Sugali, and Banjara communities.
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He argued that the inclusion of the aforementioned tribes is unconstitutional and has negatively impacted the Koya tribe’s reservation benefits.
“The petitioners have had to suffer grossly on an educational, economic and social level due to their meager share in reaping the benefit of reservation provided to them in matters of admissions to schools and colleges and public employment vis-à-vis the Lambada and Sugali (Banjara) Tribe candidates who are considerably well advanced in matters of education and finances and the Petitioners being the indigenous tribal’s have to suffer in the face of the subsequent inclusion of the members of Sugals/Lambadis/Banjaras as the Scheduled Tribes since 1976,” his plea reads.
Plea disposed off by Telangana HC
However, this plea was disposed of by the Telangana HC in December 2024, citing a 2018 judgment in Writ Petition No. 21254 of 2018. The HC then directed the petitioner to take their concerns to the Central government.
The 2018 judgment is currently being contested before the Supreme Court in SLP(C) No. 17519/2018 (Gondwana Welfare Society v. State of Telangana), where a notice has been issued and leave has been granted.
In his latest plea to the Supreme Court, the petitioner has argued that the inclusion of these tribes into the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, through the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Acts of 1976 and 2002, was executed in violation of the constitutional procedures outlined in Article 342.
The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to both the Central and Telangana governments asking them to respond to the petition.
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