The right to freedom of movement under Article 19(1)(d) and 19(1)(e) of the Indian Constitution is formally guaranteed to all citizens. Yet Denotified and Nomadic Tribes (DNTs) remain subject to administrative mobility controls, principally the state-level Habitual Offenders Acts. These communities have historically been classified as criminal under the Criminal Tribes Act 1871. The conventional explanation for the mobility control treats this as a failure of application or judicial interpretation. This paper, however, argues that the failure is more fundamental. It can be traced to the constitutional founding moment itself. A close reading of the Constituent Assembly Debates reveals that the framers were not merely silent on the Criminal Tribes Act when drafting the movement provisions. Criminal tribes do find a mention in the debates. Yet the assembly proceeded without any action or amendment to cater to the specific needs of nomadic tribes vis-a-vis the Draft Article 13(1)(d) of the constitution. The paper traces its institutional consequences through the CTA-to-HOA transition to the present day.