AAP demands Parliament's intervention on SC/ST Act

Sanjay Singh wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to discuss the Act in both the Houses of the Parliament and decide to keep its provisions intact.

"The SCs and the STs had got an effective weapon for security in the form of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which will become weak after the Honourable Supreme Court's decision. It is the duty of the Parliament and government to protect a law that has been enacted by the parliament. Hence, the government should hold a discussion in both the Houses of the Parliament and decide to keep provisions of the SC/ST Act intact," Singh wrote.

He also highlighted the death of at least 11 persons during the Bharat Bandh called by the Dalit organisations on Monday to oppose the 'dilution' of the SC/ST Act.

The AAP leader also alleged that Dalits were targeted in many BJP ruled states. On March 20, the SC, in a bid to check misuse of the SC/ST Act, ruled that preliminary enquiry in a case under the Atrocities Act would be done by the DSP to ensure the allegations are not frivolous, and to avoid the false implication of an innocent.