SHIMLA:  The High Court of Himachal Pradesh has expressed concerns about the constitutionality of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Act, 2023.

The court, headed by Chief Justice Shri M.S RAMACHANDRA RAO and Justuce Smt JYOTSNA REWAL DUA, raised these concerns while addressing petitions related to the ST status of the Hattee community in the Transgiri region of Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh.

The court considered two writ petitions challenging the inclusion of certain communities in the Scheduled Tribes list.

It found evidence of potential issues with the law, emphasizing the need for a careful examination.

The court granted interim relief by staying the implementation of the law until March 18, 2024, highlighting the preliminary nature of its observations.

The case revolves around the rejection of the Hattee community's inclusion as Scheduled Tribes in Himachal Pradesh on three previous occasions (1995, 2006, 2017).

Despite these rejections, the Union of India and the State Government enacted the impugned law in August 2023, granting reservations to the Hattee community.

The court observed manifest arbitrariness in the ethnographic report justifying the recommendation, citing outdated and unreliable information.

The Court expressed concerns about including dominant castes like Brahmins and Rajputs in the Hattee community, potentially impacting other reserved categories.

The petitioners argued that prosperous and dominant castes are claiming ST status to avoid cases under the SC/ST Act.

The court questioned the lack of recommendations for exclusions by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and raised concerns about the impermissible inclusion of the same communities in both the SC and ST lists.

The court highlighted potential loss of benefits for SCs and STs due to the inclusion of dominant castes in the ST list, emphasizing the need for proper scrutiny before issuing ST certificates.

It found a prima facie case of manifest arbitrariness in including SCs, OBCs, and dominant castes in the ST list, leading to the grant of interim relief.

The court's decision marks a significant development in the ongoing legal scrutiny of the Scheduled Tribes list in Himachal Pradesh, shedding light on potential constitutional issues and the need for careful examination before implementing such laws.