PANAJI
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesdayexpressed confidence that the Supreme Court will overturn the Bombay HighCourt’s interim stay on the process of identifying and notifying ScheduledTribe (ST) population figures in Goa, the order that has stalled the entireprocess of securing political reservation for the community in the StateLegislative Assembly.
The statement comes a day after the State andthe Centre decided to separately approach the Supreme Court challenging theHigh Court order. While the Centre will file its own challenge, the Goagovernment and the ST community will also move separate special leave petitions(SLPs).
The decision was taken during a meeting withthe Assistant Solicitor General of India and a Goa delegation led by TribalWelfare Minister Ramesh Tawadkar in New Delhi on Monday evening.
Sawant said the Government of India wouldchallenge the High Court's decision before the Supreme Court and the Stategovernment and the ST Association will also file intervention applications inthe matter.
“I am confident that the Supreme Court willstay the High Court order,” Sawant said.
Reiterating his government's commitment tosecuring political reservation for the ST community, the Chief Minister saidevery possible effort would be made to ensure that the community getsrepresentation in the Goa Legislative Assembly by 2027.
Last week, a Division Bench of JusticesValmiki Menezes and Amit S Jamsandekar of the Bombay High Court at Goarestrained the Census Commissioner from notifying or publishing Goa's STpopulation figures, observing that such figures could only be determined on thebasis of the first official Census conducted after 2026.
The Census exercise is scheduled to commenceon December 1, 2026, and conclude on January 4, 2027. With Assembly electionsdue in February 2027, the order has raised concerns among the ST leaders, whohave been seeking political reservation for the community for over two decades.
