JODHPUR, Jan. 7 -- The Rajasthan high court has expressed serious concern over the Municipalities (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Bill, 2001 (MESA) not being enacted into law even after two and a half decades, stating that this has created a constitutional and legislative vacuum regarding municipal governance in Scheduled Areas. The court said that until Parliament enacts a special law under Article 243-ZC(3) to provide a tailored municipal governance framework for Scheduled Areas, the administrative arrangement must proceed on a hybrid footing. A division bench of justices Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Sanjeet Purohit on Monday clarified that the inclusion of Scheduled Areas within municipal limits is not unconstitutional in itself, but this does not mean that tribal rights and the protection under the Fifth Schedule can be undermined through ordinary municipal laws. The court said that the Constitution has provided special protection for Scheduled Areas relating to land, forests, resources, livelihoods, social security, and cultural identity, which cannot be disregarded in the name of any urban administrative system. The court directed the state government to place the spirit and conclusions of this judgment before the central government and the concerned ministry so that serious consideration can be given to enacting appropriate legislation for municipal governance in Scheduled Areas. The petitions challenged the state government's notification dated December 26, 2024, which included several village panchayat areas, including Balicha village in Udaipur district, within municipal limits, thereby incorporating villages falling under Scheduled Areas into urban bodies. The bench ordered: "Municipal functions relating to urban infrastructure, taxation, civic services, regulation of construction, sanitation, transport, and public health shall be exercised under the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009. Constitutional protections of Scheduled Areas, particularly those concerning land, tribal welfare, resource protection, social safeguards, and regulatory control under the Fifth Schedule, shall continue to operate and must inform all executive and legislative action..." With these observations and conclusions, the court disposed of all the petitions....