New Delhi: The Supreme Court, last week, held that even persons who do not belong to the Scheduled Tribes have the right to settle down in and vote from a Scheduled Area demarcated under the Fifth Schedule of the Indian constitution, subject to “reasonable restrictions.”
LiveLaw has reported that the apex court on May 10, dismissed a plea contending that the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Delimitation Act, 2002 are not applicable to the Scheduled Area in absence of a notification issued by the Governor of the State under Clause 5(1) of the Fifth Schedule.
The court however said that reasonable restrictions can be put on the said fundamental right in Clause (5) of Article 19.
“Therefore, we reject the argument that non-tribals have no right to settle down in a Scheduled Area. The argument that the Fifth Schedule is a law made by the Parliament is misconceived. Even assuming that Fifth Schedule is a law, it does not put any constraints on the exercise of the Fundamental Rights under Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India”, the court said.
It also noted that the right to vote, enshrined in the (Representation of People) Act, 1950, is applicable to Scheduled Areas. Thus, the apex court upheld the right of people not belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, to vote from Scheduled Areas.
“Every eligible voter is entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of a constituency, in which he is ordinarily residing. Therefore, any person eligible to vote who is ordinarily residing in the Scheduled Area has a right to vote, even if he is a non-tribal,” it said.
The Adivasis for Social and Human Rights Action had filed a civil appeal challenging the Odisha high court’s order granting that non-tribal persons had the right to live in Scheduled Areas. The high court’s decision pertained to the Sundargarh district of the state, a Schedule Area since 1977.