K.G.BALAKRISHNAN, CJI. - (1.) LEAVE granted.
(2.) FOR a considerable period during the British Rule, special laws were made applicable to certain 'backward areas' in India that were predominantly occupied by tribal people. These backward regions covered an area of more than 1,20,000 square miles. However, the characteristics of these areas and their populations varied widely. By Act XIV of 1874, Santhal Parganas and Chutia Nagpur Division (now known as Chhotanagpur Division) were created and in these 'Scheduled districts', tribal communities were accorded a certain degree of autonomy to regulate their affairs on the basis of their own conventions and traditions. Many of these communities chose their leaders through an informal consensus among other customary methods for selection. When the Constitution was enacted, these areas were designated as 'Scheduled Areas'. Article 244 of the Constitution explicitly states that the provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply in respect of the administration and control of the Scheduled Areas in any State other than the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The provisions of the Sixth Schedule guide the administration of tribal areas in those states. Paragraph (4) of the Fifth Schedule states that there shall be in each State having a "Schedule Area", a 'Tribes Advisory Council' consisting of not more than twenty members of whom, as nearly as may be, three- fourths shall be the representatives of the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of the State. It was the duty of the 'Tribes Advisory Council' to advise on matters pertaining to the welfare and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes in the State. Paragraph (5) of the Fifth Schedule states that the Governor of the State may by public notification direct that any particular Act of Parliament or the Legislature of the State shall not apply to a Scheduled Area or would apply subject to such exceptions and modifications as he may specify. The Governor of the State may also make regulations for the peace and good government of any area in a State which is for the time being a Scheduled Area. The Governor of the State has also been given the power to repeal or amend any existing Act of Parliament or of the Legislature of the State which is for the time being applicable to the area in question. Hence, it is evident that the framers' intent behind including the Fifth Schedule was that of a separate administrative scheme for Scheduled Areas in order to address the special needs of tribal communities. During the debates on the floor of the Constituent Assembly, some members had criticized such differential treatment for Scheduled Tribes. In response to such criticisms, Shri K.M. Munshi had said that 'Adivasis' or tribes were many in number belonging to different "ethnic, religious and social groups" and he explained the object of the Drafting Committee's proposals in the following words: "We want that the Scheduled Tribes in the whole country should be protected from the destructive impact of races possessing a higher and more aggressive culture and should be encouraged to develop their own autonomous life; at the same time we want them to take a larger part in the life of the country adopted. They should not be isolated communities or little republics to be perpetuated for ever..... object is to maintain them as little unconnected communities which might develop into different groups from the rest of the country..... and that these tribes should be absorbed in the national life of the country."
(3.) IN exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 6(i) of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of INdia, the President of INdia made an Order known as The Scheduled Area (Part A States) Order, 1950. With respect to the then combined State of Bihar, this Order was applied to Ranchi district, Singhbhum district (excluding Dalbhum sub-division) and Santhal Pargana district. The following table shows the chronology of the governmental measures which have identified Scheduled Areas in the territories that lie in the present-day State of Jharkhand: JUDGEMENT_19_TLPRE0_2010Html1.htm Hence, Tribes Advisory Councils had been constituted for these Scheduled areas since the Panchayati Raj System had not been extended to them. By way of the Constitution (Seventy-Third Amendment) Act, 1992, Part IX was inserted in the Constitution of India. Article 243B of Part IX of the Constitution mandated that there shall be Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels in accordance with the provisions of this Part. Article 243-C provides that the Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisions with respect to the composition of Panchayats. Detailed provisions were made under Article 243-D enabling the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women and other backward classes. Article 243-M stated that nothing in this Part shall apply to the Scheduled Areas referred to in clause (1), and the tribal areas referred to in clause (2), of article 244.;