Legal battle over Hattee community reservation: HP HC issues notice to Modi Govt
Shimla, Nov 1
The Himachal Pradesh High court issued notice to Union of India and Himachal Pradesh Government, in a Civil Writ petition filed against the provision of Reservation to Hattee community living in the trans giri area of Sirmour district.
The petition heard by the division bench of Chief Justice M. S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua today and issued notice to Union of India and state of Himachal Pradesh. The Petition moved by the Girpar Anusuchit Jaati Adhikari Sanrakashan Samiti challenging provision of Reservation to Hatti community of Transgiri area.
Sr Advocate of Supreme court Colin Gongolves plead the matter ( online) from New Delhi, and sought to quash Presidential order passed in Month of August 2023 to amend Schedule caste and Schedule Tribe Act to include Hattee community in the schedule list.
Talking about it standing counsel for petitioner in Himachal Pradesh High court Advocate Kawalpreet said that the notice was issued to Union of India and State of Himachal Pradesh in the matter to file reply as the matter would be fixed for next hearing on November 18, 2023. She said that petioners are also residents who moved Civil Writ Petition today on the name of Girpar Anusuchit Jaati Adhikari Sanrakashan Samiti v/s union of India and others.
Petitioner stated that there is no tribal Hattee tribe in the state and rights of reservation was handed over to Rajput and high caste Brahmin in the name of Hattee which is not found as a homogeneous recorded community. They said that no geographical area could be declared Scheduled Tribe, until it fill the criteria of homogeneous as scheduled tribe.
According to the Reservation policy of the country the Schedule caste and other Backward Classes are already getting 15 pc and 27 pc reservation under the existing law but with the amendment in SC and ST act, all people of the Transgiri area of Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh including SCs and OBCs will now get included in the Schedule Tribe list and get only 7.5 per cent reservation in Government recruitment and admission in the Government educational and technological institutions. According to the petitioner they would have to compete with the upper and economic well off community and reservation in the panchayati Raj and Urban bodies institutions would be designated to ST in place of Schedule caste communities.
Noteworthy that the Union Cabinet announced tribal status to Hattee community of Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh in September 2022 .
“The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill 2022” was also passed by the Parliament to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs) of Himachal Pradesh,”
The Hatee community of Transgiri area of Sirmour district are people who belong to various heterogeneous communities including upper caste. They had been seeking tribal status to Hattee for the last two decades and BJP had made the promise in 2014 Lok Sabha election in its party manifesto.
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