Govt must seek review of SC order on SC/ST Act: BJP MP
23 March 2018 5:52 PM GMT
New Delhi: A Dalit MP of the BJP on Friday said that a Supreme Court order diluting the punitive provisions of the SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act would have an "adverse" impact on the party if the government does not file a review petition.
Udit Raj, a Lok Sabha MP from North West Delhi, said he will raise the issue during a meeting of top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah, at their parliamentary party meeting this evening.
"The government must file a review plea in the apex court against the order. If it does not, it will definitely impact us (BJP) adversely. When the government takes credit for positive developments, it will also get discredited for something that goes wrong," he told reporters.
Raj, who is a former IRS office and heads All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, said he has sought an appointment with Modi to raise this issue and also a recent UGC order that, he claimed, "harms" the interests of Dalits.
He claimed that the apex court order makes the legislation very ineffective by mandating prior official sanction to arrest a government employee booked under the Act and the nod of the SSP concerned to arrest a private person.
"The law has become so weak," the MP said.
Several Dalit MPs of the ruling party have expressed view, mostly on the condition of anonymity, that the government should file a review petition against the order.
Dalit ministers like Ram Vilas Paswan have also spoken in favour of filing a review petition.
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