The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh will assess the validity of a petition challenging the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Schedule Tribes Amendment Act, 2024, which grants 10% reservation to ‘Pahari speaking people’ and four other tribes.
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Srinagar: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh is set to deliberate on the maintainability of a petition challenging the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Amendment Act, 2024. This Act grants a 10% reservation to ‘Pahari speaking people’ and four other tribes.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice MA Chowdhary recently issued notices to all respondents, scheduling the matter for arguments on maintainability on May 24. Deputy Solicitor General of India Vishal Sharma received the notice on behalf of the Union of India, while Advocate General DC Raina and Additional Advocate General Amit Gupta represented the Jammu & Kashmir administration.
They argued that the petitioners lack the locus standi to file the petition, rendering it non-maintainable.
The court stated on May 4,
“As regards the issue of maintainability and locus standi, raised by the learned Advocate General, interim application will be considered on the next date of hearing.”
The petition contends that Parliament included the ‘Pahari Ethnic Group’, ‘Paddari Tribe’, ‘Kohli’, and ‘Gadda Brahmin’ communities in the Scheduled Tribes (STs) list for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir without reasonable justification or empirical data.
The petitioners argue that the inclusion of Pahari speaking people in the ST list on a linguistic basis is unjustified. They also challenge a statutory order by the J&K administration that provides a 10% reservation to STs already recognized in J&K and an additional 10% to the newly added tribes.
According to the petition, the inclusion of these communities in the ST list means that the existing 12 groups can no longer file cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for defamation or discrimination by these upper castes in regions like Poonch and Rajouri. This loss of legal protection, the petition argues, further exposes members of the existing tribes to potential injustices and discrimination.
The petition also asserts that none of these newly included communities possess tribal characteristics, nor do they face social inequality or economic disparity.
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