New Delhi: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court gave the Manipur government eight weeks to reply to a challenge contesting the state’s Inner Line Permit (ILP) system. The state government’s attorney requested time, and a bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti gave the Manipur administration that time to reply.

Amra Bangali, a Kolkata-based organization with a chapter in Assam, filed a case requesting the revocation of the ILP in Manipur, and the supreme court sent notice to the state and federal governments on January 3, 2022.

The petition has contested the permit system, arguing that it gives the state unrestricted authority to limit the admission and departure of non-indigenous people or those who are not Manipur’s permanent inhabitants.

The Adaptation of Laws (Amendment) Order, 2019 extended the 140-year-old “colonial legislation” Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873 (BEFR) and established the permission system.

According to the appeal, the British passed the BEFR in order to safeguard their economic interests in the mountainous regions from Indians and to establish a monopoly over the tea estates in Assam, which was then a part of Bengal. It forbids Indians from trading with the tribal people in the regions listed in the BEFR’s preamble.

The 2019 order essentially made the ILP system applicable to the districts of Nagaland that get periodic notifications as well as the States of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram.

The petition claimed that since the 2019 order gives the state unrestricted authority to limit the admission and departure of non-indigenous people, it violates the basic rights of individuals protected by Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution.

It said, “The draconian ILP system is fundamentally opposed to the policies of social integration, development and technological advancement in the area beyond the Inner Line, apart from hampering tourism within the state, which is a major source of revenue generation for these areas.”