CUTTACK: A PIL filed in the Orissa High Court has challenged the non-inclusion of the Girigiria/Girigira/Gingiria community in Odisha in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.
President of All Odisha Girigiria/Girigira/Gingiria community Sudhansu Sekhar Behera and three others filed the petition. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 notifies castes in the country and in specific states coming under the category of scheduled caste.
After a preliminary hearing on Thursday, the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik issued notices to both the Central and State governments. Advocate Ajay Kumar Nayak argued on the petitioner’s behalf.
Assistant Solicitor General of India PK Parhi accepted notice on behalf of Director (SCD), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, while additional government advocate Debakanta Mojanty received notice on behalf of the State Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development department.
“Reply be filed within eight weeks and rejoinder thereto, if any, be filed before the next date,” the Bench said in its order, while fixing August 11 as the next date for hearing on the matter. According to the petition, Girigiria/Girigira/Gingiria community is the counterpart or equal of Dewar, Keuta, Kaibarta and Dhibar which has been included in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.
The Commissioner-cum-Secretary Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development department has repeatedly recommended for inclusion of the Girigiria/Girigira/Gingiria community in scheduled caste category in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. But the recommendations were rejected by the Director (SCD), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India, the petition said.