JUDGMENT

K.G. Balakrishnan, CJI, J. —

1. Leave granted.

2. For a considerable period during the British Rule, special laws were made applicable to certain ‘backward areas’ in India that were predominantly occupied by tribal people. These backward regions covered an area of more than 1,20,000 square miles. However, the characteristics of these areas and their populations varied widely. By Act XIV of 1874, Santhal Parganas and Chutia Nagpur Division (now known as Chhotanagpur Division) were created and in these ‘Scheduled districts’, tribal communities were accorded a certain degree of autonomy to regulate their affairs on the basis of their own conventions and traditions. Many of these communities chose their leaders through an informal consensus among other customary methods for selection. When the Constitution was enacted, these areas were designated as ‘Scheduled Areas’. Article 244 of the Constitution explicitly states that the provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply in respect of the administration and control of the Scheduled Areas in any State other than the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The provisions of the Sixth Schedule guide the administration of