Jammu and Kashmir High Court orders Centre, UT to respond to plea against including Pahari-speakers in ST list

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently asked the Central government and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to ensure that they respond by August 12 to a petition challenging the inclusion of Pahari-speaking people in the Scheduled Tribe list [Mohd Anwar Choudhary v. Union of India and Ors]..The Court was dealing with a writ petition challenging the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Schedule Tribes Amendment Act, 2024, by which 10 per cent reservation was given to four tribes, including the Pahari Ethnic Group in the Schedule Tribe quota of Jammu and Kashmir.The Court had issued notice in the matter in April this year. However, the government authorities were yet to file a response when the matter was taken up on July 3. Therefore, the Bench of Justices Tashi Rabstan and Puneet Gupta hinted that if the respondent authorities fail to file a response by the next hearing, the Court would proceed to examine whether interim relief should be granted to the petitioners. "List on 12.08.2024. Meanwhile, Response be filed on behalf of the respondents. In the event response is not filed by the respondents, the application for interim relief shall be considered on the next date," the Court's order stated. .The petitioners before the Court have argued that Pahari-speaking people cannot be included as Scheduled Tribes merely on linguistic basis.They contended that the parliament included the 'Pahari Ethnic Group', 'Pahari Tribe', 'Kohli' and 'Gadda Brahmin' communities in the list of Schedule Tribes (STs) without any reasonable justification or empirical data.They have also challenged a statutory order issued by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, by which 10 per cent reservation was given to already recognised Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir while giving an additional 10 per cent reservation to the four newly added tribes.The petitioners pointed out that the newly added groups were upper-caste communities from regions like Poonch and Rajouri. Their inclusion in the ST list meant that the existing 12 ST groups could no longer file cases under the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for discrimination faced from members of these upper-caste communities, the petitioners argued. This loss of legal protection further exposes members of the existing tribes to potential injustices and discrimination, the plea added. Further, none of the newly added communities possess tribal characteristics or face social inequality and or economic disparity, the petitioners contended..During the April 4 hearing of the matter, Deputy Solicitor General of India Vishal Sharma had accepted notice in the matter on behalf of the Union of India while Advocate General DC Raina and Additional Advocate General Amit Gupta appeared for the Jammu and Kashmir administration.They had submitted that the petition was not maintainable as the petitioners had no locus to file the petition. The Court had, therefore, indicated that it would first consider whether the writ petition was maintainable (whether it should be entertained or heard on merits at all) or not. However, with the respondent authorities delaying the filing of their response, the Court has now cautioned that it may consider the question of interim relief on the next hearing date if no response is filed by the government. .Senior Advocates PN Raina and advocates JA Hamal and Ankit Dogra, appeared for the petitioners..[Read July 3 order].[Read April 4 order]