Strict interpretation of Scheduled Tribe lists confirms Mana as a separate tribe and rejects inclusion by evidence.

Presidential notification under Articles 366(25) and 342 is the controlling source for Scheduled Tribe status, and only Parliament may amend the list. The omission of the word "including" in the later entry showed that the named communities were separate tribes, so Mana in Maharashtra could not be treated as a sub-tribe of Gond by affinity or evidence. The earlier approach in Dina II, which relied on evidence and the reasoning in Dina I, could not survive the Constitution Bench ruling in Milind Katware and stood overruled by necessary implication. The result leaves Mana recognised as a separate Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra.

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Issues: (i) whether the Mana community in Maharashtra is a sub-tribe of Gond and therefore a Scheduled Tribe; (ii) whether the earlier decision in Dina II stood overruled by the Constitution Bench decision in Milind Katware.

Issue (i): whether the Mana community in Maharashtra is a sub-tribe of Gond and therefore a Scheduled Tribe.

Analysis: Article 366(25) and Article 342 of the Constitution make the Presidential notification, as amended only by Parliament, the controlling source for Scheduled Tribe status. The Court read the relevant Presidential entries and the 1976 amendment as a deliberate departure from the earlier form that used the word "including". The omission of that word in the later entry showed that the communities named therein were separate tribes and not merely sub-tribes of Gond. In such matters, no inquiry can be undertaken to determine whether an unexpressed community should be treated as included by affinity or evidence.

Conclusion: Mana is a separate Scheduled Tribe and not a sub-tribe of Gond.

Issue (ii): whether the earlier decision in Dina II stood overruled by the Constitution Bench decision in Milind Katware.

Analysis: The Constitution Bench in Milind Katware had clearly held that no inquiry or evidence is permissible to treat an unmentioned tribe, sub-tribe, or group as included in the Scheduled Tribes Order, and that only Parliament may amend the list. Dina II had proceeded on appreciation of evidence and had relied on the reasoning in Dina I. Since that approach contradicted the rule later declared by the Constitution Bench, Dina II could not survive and stood overruled by necessary implication.

Conclusion: Dina II stands overruled by necessary implication.

Final Conclusion: The refusal to interfere with the High Court's view leaves intact the declaration that Mana is a Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra as a separate entry, and the appeal fails on the merits.

Ratio Decidendi: The Scheduled Tribes Order must be read strictly as enacted, and neither evidence nor judicial inquiry can be used to expand, contract, or reinterpret the listed tribes except by parliamentary amendment.

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