Congress MLA Approaches Supreme Court Seeking Removal Of Lambadas, Sugalis And Banjaras From Scheduled Tribe List In Telangana

The petition traces the classification history, stating that the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, which applied to the erstwhile Hyderabad State, included only nine communities, Andh, Bhil, Chenchu, Gond (including Naikpod and Raj Gond), Hill Reddis, Kolam, Koya, Pardhan and Thoti, as Scheduled Tribes. Lambadas, Sugalis and Banjaras were not among them. Instead, under Notification No. 10 dated 30 May 1954 issued by the Government of Hyderabad, Lambadas and Banjaras were listed as Backward Classes.

The petition states that this status remained unchanged even after the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, when Andhra Pradesh was formed by merging the Andhra region with the Telugu-speaking districts of Hyderabad State. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Amendment) Order, 1956, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Lists (Modification) Order, 1956, continued to limit the ST recognition of Sugalis and Lambadis only to the Andhra region. The 1956 Order explicitly stated, “Throughout the State except Hyderabad, Mahboobnagar, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Medak, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam and Nalgonda Districts: Sl. 19. Sugalis (Lambadis).”

The petition asserts that this clear exclusion of the Telangana districts remained in place until 1976, when the Parliament enacted the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976. Without any recommendation from the Governor or socio-anthropological survey, the amendment dropped the area restrictions and extended ST status to Lambadas and Sugalis across the entire state. It states, “This time the area restriction as was appearing before was removed, thereby Sugalis, Lambadis (who were considered BCs in Hyderabad/Telangana Area) were now given the status of Scheduled Tribe in Hyderabad/Telangana area as well.” The petition terms this change as “illegal and without any basis,” arguing it resulted in “illegally benefitting the Sugalis, Lambadis to the detriment of the other Schedule Tribes in Telangana Area who have enjoyed the said status since 1950.”

In 2002, another amendment added Banjaras under the same entry. The petitio notes, “This amendment had the effect of adding Banjaras as a Scheduled Tribe along with Sugalis and Lambadis… Entry 29 reads: ‘Sugalis, Lambadis, Banjaras.’”

The petition asserts that these communities were never tribals, and their sudden inclusion is unsupported by any anthropological or legal justification. It states, “The Lambadas, Sugalis and Banjaras are originally Kshatriyas and businessmen. However, without any enquiry and without any justification, they have been treated as Scheduled Tribes in the Telangana region of the then State of Andhra Pradesh.”

It is also alleged that the change triggered large-scale demographic shifts. “The recognition of Banjaras, Lambadas and Sugalis as Scheduled Tribes in the Telangana Districts… has resulted in an unprecedented exodus of the Banjaras, Lambadas and Sugalis from the neighbouring State of Maharashtra and Rajasthan and other northern States into the Telangana Districts obviously for reaping the benefits available to the Scheduled Tribes.” The petition notes that the Sugali/Lambadi population was 1,32,464 in 1971, but surged to 11,58,342 by 1981, an 87.4% increase. It is stated, “Almost 70% of the posts in Government services and admissions to schools and colleges were occupied by the Lambadas and Sugalis, having regards to their comparative advancement vis-à-vis the other tribes.”

The petition states that communities like the Koyas, Gonds, Chenchus, Kolams and Thotis, who had been constitutionally recognised since 1950, have now been effectively pushed out. “The petitioners have had to suffer grossly on an educational, economic and social level due to their meager share in reaping the benefit of reservation… which has been utilized by the Lambadas and Sugalis, the communities who have been illegally come to become Scheduled Tribes”, it adds.

The petitioners seek a declaration from the Supreme Court that the inclusion of Sugalis, Lambadas and Banjaras as Scheduled Tribes in Telangana is unconstitutional, violative of Article 342, and detrimental to the original and genuinely backward tribal communities of the region. They have further urged the Court to strike down the relevant provisions of the 1976 and 2002 amendments, which they claim were enacted without constitutional compliance or empirical justification.

Cause Title: Tellam Venkata Rao v. Union of India (Diary No. 40271/2025)