MUMBAI: The Nagpur bench of Bombay Excessive court docket delivered the decision on petitions searching for the standing of Scheduled Tribe.
Adim Gowari Samaj Vikas Mandal and some others had moved the Nagpur bench of high court, seeking the status of Scheduled Tribe.
The bench, comprising Justice R Ok Deshpande and Justice Arun Upadhye, delivered the decision on petitions searching for the standing of Scheduled Tribe.
It also trashed government resolutions (GR) — in 1985 declaring Gond-Gowaris as tribals and Gowaris as non-tribals; a 1995 GR declaring the Gowaris as Special Backward Class (SBC) that is eligible for two per cent quota and a 2011 central government notification declaring Gowaris as OBCs.
Petitioners’ lawyers Narayan Phadnis and Ram Parsodkar argued that classification made by the government was wrong.
The Gowari community consists of cattle herders who were referred as the Gond-Gowari in 1916 and described as a small hybrid caste formed by an alliance between the Gonds and Gowaris. They have been listed as the subgroup of the Gond in the Government of India list for ST.