The Madras High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed seeking directions against the first respondent (Union of India) to consider the process of inclusion of the caste “Gudugudupukarar” in the List of Scheduled Tribes for the State of Tamil Nadu as per Article 342 of the Constitution of India in the list of Scheduled Tribes of Tamil Nadu expeditiously.
In the alternate , the Petitioner seeks direction to the respondents to treat the Gudugudupukarar in synonym to Hindu Kanikkars in Sl.No.7 of the List of Scheduled Tribes in the State of Tamil Nadu on par with some of the Gudugudupukarar children of Ramanathapuram, Vellore and Kanchipuram Districts.
Karthikaa Ashok , the counsel for the petitioner canvassed that now the petitioner cannot be considered as Hindu Kanikkar, in view of the Anthropologist report. According to the counsel for the petitioner, in spite of 75 years of independence, the people belonging to Gudugudupukarar community have not got the benefit of either Scheduled Tribe and/or other Tribes and are not found in any of the lists.
The counsel for the petitioner submits that, at least, respondent No.1 be directed to consider the cause of the petitioner.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy held that it would be beyond the purview of the Court to issue any direction as sought by the petitioner. The Presidential order of Scheduled Tribes list cannot be tinkered with by the Court. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes is the authority to consider whether a particular tribe comes under the parameters of a particular Scheduled Tribe. It is for the petitioner to take appropriate steps in that regard.