Admitting a stay petition for adjudication, the Orissa High Court today granted an interim stay on the operation of two notifications of the state government to include some scheduled areas of Sundargarh district in the proposed Rourkela Municipal Corporation.
Villagers of two panchayats - Jagada and Jhartarang--had moved the HC challenging the November 2014 notifications of the state urban development department, stating that the government's move was unconstitutional and not in conformity with the provisions of Article 243-ZC of the Constitution of India as well as the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Area (PESA) Act of 1996.
The move is also violating the ST and Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest) Act of 2006, they said.
Although the HC had earlier issued at least two notices to the respondents of the petition, neither the government nor Rourkela civic body responded to the notices and the court was forced to take up the stay petition and stayed the proceedings on the notices till the writ petition is disposed of.
The HC stay has brought cheers to tribals protesting against the inclusion of their scheduled areas in the urban body. People belonging to the proposed villages to be included in Rourkela Municipal Corporation are spearheading the movement against the government notifications under the banner of Mula Basinda Sangha.
