Direct Governors To Act As Per Advice Of Tribes Advisory Councils In Scheduled Areas : Plea In SC

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice in a petition which sought that Governors be directed to function as per the advice of Tribes Advisory Council for Schedule Areas and Tribal Areas, as per the provisions of the Fifth Schedule and not on the advice of the Council of Ministers as per Art. 163 (1) of the Constitution.

The petition filed by filed by Babita Kacchap, the National Organization Secretary of Adivasi Maha Sabha, stated that the Governors were ignoring the aid and advice of Tribe Advisory Councils constituted in respect of Scheduled Areas. As per the provisions of Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, Governor is not bound by the aid and advice of council of ministers in respect of Scheduled Areas. This is to give tribal population more autonomy and voice in regulation of their affairs. However, in practice, these provisions are being undermined as the Governors in Fifth Schedule states are acting as per the aid and advice of the council of ministers instead of the TAC, the petition stated

"the complete and total abdication of powers by the Governor (while acting upon the aid and advice of the Tribes Advisory Council) of each and every State of this country as are available to him/her under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution has led to complete stultification of the rights of indigenous people to self-determination", stated the petition filed through Advocate Joel. 

 The reconstitution of TACs by removing non-ST members is also sought in the petition.

The petition further sought for a direction to set aside the orders of Election Commission of India notifying reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes on the ground that those constituencies did not have a "preponderance of tribal population".

"It is submitted that the Scheduled Tribes on the present date constitute only a minor portion of the population of a constituency and consequently are in no position to select a meaningful representative who can agitate disputes on their behalf.

That the candidates for the elections are given tickets by leading political parties based on the current demographics of the constituency and the candidates themselves align themselves with the majority of the constituency", stated the petition 

The preponderance of tribal population has been completely disregarded even while the Scheduled Areas were being formulated, it said. 

However, the CJI-led bench has not issued notice on the prayer for setting aside election on this ground.