The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) has moved resolutions to codify the customary laws of three tribal clans. The council introduced separate bills to adopt the law of the Mizo, the Kaipeng and the Malsom communities to redress their long-standing demands.
Several clans have been approaching the TTAADC, which was constituted under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, to codify their respective customary law. Tripura has 19 tribal communities, but some are left with very small population.
TTAADC Chief Executive Member Radha Charan Debbarma recently said they were interested in codifying the law of all indigenous communities. He gave the assurance after meeting a delegation from the Chakma community.
Even after the codification, the customary law has limited jurisdiction and can only deal with elected civil law matters. Most of the customary laws of the numerous tribal groups in the northeast India are not in written structure.
The TTAADC introduced the bills to codify the customary law of the Mizo, the Kaipeng and the Malsom communities in its current session. It had earlier approved introduction of the law of the Bru (Reang) community in 2018, but it is yet to be implemented for not receiving clearance from the Law department of the State government.
