Article 342
Scheduled Tribes: Presidential Notification and Parliamentary Amendment
Article 342 of the Constitution governs the specification of Scheduled Tribes and their modification. It establishes a two-step process: initial specification by the President, and any subsequent change only by Parliament.
- Article 342(1): The President may, by public notification and after consulting the Governor of the state concerned, specify the tribes or tribal communities (or parts of, or groups within, them) that shall be deemed Scheduled Tribes in relation to a particular state or Union Territory.
- Article 342(2): Parliament alone has the power to include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes any tribe or community specified in the Presidential notification. No subsequent Presidential notification can alter the list.
- The Supreme Court held in State of Maharashtra v. Milind (2001) that once a community is notified as a Scheduled Tribe under Article 342, it is binding on all authorities; only Parliament can change it.
- The process is therefore: Presidential notification → Parliamentary legislation for any change.
● Tracked since May 24, 2026 · last seen August 06, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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