Margao: Following the interim stay granted by Bombay high court, members of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community are weighing a review petition before the high court or a special leave petition in Supreme Court. They have blamed the Union law ministry and census commission for failing to defend the ST Reservation Act.On Thursday, the high court restrained the census commissioner from notifying ST population figures estimated on any basis other than the first Census after 2026, scheduled to begin on Jan 5, 2027. The bench observed that while the commissioner had stated that the ST population could not be estimated from available data, the figure was presumed at 9.9%, the proportion recorded in 2001.ST member Ravindra Velip said the respondents failed to defend the legislation. “The census commission chose not to file any reply, and the respondents fell short in protecting the Act and opposing the petition. That led to the stay,” he said.The court order states that deputy solicitor general Pravin Faldessai opposed the plea for interim relief, though the census commission did not file an affidavit for the time being.Velip said key facts were not placed before the court. “The Gawda, Kunbi and Velip communities were included in the ST list in 2003. The ST population in the 2001 Census was just 566. After their inclusion, the census commission had to determine the change in population and notify it. All these facts should have been placed on record,” he said.He said the stay was granted on a constitutional point. “After the Act came into force, the census commission was required to determine the ST population in Goa. That could not be done, because the 84th Amendment allows population to be determined only on the basis of the 2001 Census or the first Census after 2026,” he said.On the next course of action, Velip said no decision has been taken. “We are yet to decide whether to approach Supreme Court. We need to understand the census commission’s view so that Supreme Court does not end up upholding the high court order. We will meet officials of the census commission, the election commission and the law ministry, and then decide whether to file a review petition or a special leave petition,” he said.
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