Notification by Land Resources Department, Government of Manipur Violates Article 371-C as it Extends to ‘Hill Areas’

The notification dated 18th September 2025 issued by the Land Resources Department is an executive order applicable to the entire state of Manipur without referring or deriving powers from any Acts relating to various lands. However, many people will understand that the land law dealt by the department in government of Manipur is the MLR&LR Act of 1960, which operates mainly in the valley and some notified tract of plain lands in hill districts like Churachandpur town, Moreh town, Khoupum valley etc. where MLR& LR Act, 1960 is extended. For the “hill areas”, there is the department of Tribal Affairs & Hill Areas which deal with all matters relating to “hill areas”.  There is no land laws in “hill areas” and the traditional and customary practices are followed by the tribes living in the “hill areas”.

The danger of this notification is that it extends to the whole state and does not exclude the “hill areas” as defined in the “First Schedule” in Presidential Order dated 20th June 1972 under Article 371-C. Any laws, regulations or instructions that infringes on tribal rights of the people living in the “hill areas” and matters relating to tribal lands in “hill areas” necessarily involves the need to consult the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) as provided specially for “hill areas” of Manipur under Article 371-C.

Two important considerations come into play regarding the notification:-

Firstly, the HAC is established by Article 371-C and is a special constitutional provision designed to ensure that the interests of the tribal people in “hill areas” are considered separately from the rest of the state. It is a unique committee, and its functioning is not entirely reliant on the general workings of the legislative assembly.

Secondly, even though the assembly may be suspended, the HAC, which was specifically established under Article 371-C, is designed to carry out certain functions related to the governance of the hill areas, including the modification of rules and procedures for governance that affect the hill areas. It is possible that it could still have some operational scope, even under President's Rule, given its special constitutional mandate.

Presidential Rule does not necessarily render the Hill Areas Committee defunct, as it was created by the President through a constitutional provision, not through the ordinary legislative functions of the Manipur Assembly. The functions of the HAC are focused specifically on the governance and administration of the “hill areas”, and the President could decide to continue to allow it to function even if the rest of the legislative assembly is suspended. The HAC’s functioning may be determined by a presidential order or directive, which would specify whether or not the committee can continue its activities during the period of President’s Rule. It is possible that the committee could still carry out its functions independently of the assembly, particularly in relation to the specific concerns of the “hill areas”.

Any matter that pertains to “hill areas” attracts the provisions of the “Second Schedule” notified in the Presidential Order dated 20th June 1972 under Article 371-C which provides that all Scheduled Matters that related to “hill areas” are to be deliberated in the Hill Areas Committee if the notification, law etc. has the effect of extending it to the “hill areas”. The Assembly is under animated suspension but the procedures laid down in the “Second Schedule” and “Third Schedule” for the State government is to be followed. Constitution and ethics dictate that in the absence of a “Governor in Council” such major policy decision on tribal lands encompassing lands in “hill areas” should be desisted till a popular state government is installed.

The notification could suffer from the risk of being misused by encroachers of tribal lands in “hill areas” adjoining to the valley districts by pressuring the Deputy Commissioners of valley districts and hill districts to issue Patta etc. There is no law that governs the sale of tribal lands in the “hill areas” and the tribal lands are either owned by individuals, communities, clans, chiefs etc. and is based in traditional and customary practices. MLR&LR Act is not extended to “hill areas” apart for a few flat tracts in Churachandpur, Moreh, Khoupum etc. Making the notification applicable to the entire state without reference to any land law concerned in respect of the “hill areas” is illegal and unconstitutional as it violates Article 371-C. Procedure or processes cannot be supplanted in “hill areas” when there is no official tribal land law that permits land purchases, transfers, ownership or registration except through the traditional and customary tribal practices. It cannot be supplanted without following due process and involvement of the HAC specifically tasked with the functions of protecting tribal people’s rights and tribal lands in “hill areas”.  The notification is acceptable as long as “hill areas” falling under the hill districts are excluded from its coverage, except for pockets where MLR&LR Act is already extended.

The elected representatives from hill areas, the Chairperson of HAC, CSOs, intelligentsia etc. should urgently flag the issues raised herein for discussion and decision. If in their opinion there is an infringement on the sanctity of Article 371-C, bypassing the HAC, violation of Constitution and procedures specified in the Presidential Order dated 20th June 1972, etc, representation should be submitted to the concerned authority urgently to exclude the notification dated 18th September 2025 issued by the Land Resources Department from extending it to the hill areas”. This is necessary to safeguard tribal lands protected by the Constitution of India from land alienation. This notification falls under the category of covert attempts made by the dominant community in the state government to encroach on tribal lands in “hill areas”. The last popular government had tried under the pretext of “administrative convenience” to redraw the district boundaries bordering “hill areas” in hill districts with the valley districts without realising that the sanctity of “hill areas” is safeguarded by the Constitution.

Strategically, the best policy forward for the tribal people in “hill areas” of Manipur is to demand the extension of the “Sixth Schedule” to “hill areas” of Manipur under Article 244(2) and 244-A so as to safeguard tribal lands from land alienation.

Ngaranmi Shimray