SC/ST Act ruling: No stay, but SC will reconsider order
BY MPOST BUREAU3 April 2018 11:33 PM IST
MPOST BUREAU4 April 2018 5:04 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay it's March 20 order diluting specific provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
It, however, will reconsider last month's judgment at hearing after ten days and asked parties to file their written submissions within two days.
The NDA government had on Monday filed a petition seeking review of the apex court's order banning automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the SC/ST Act.
The Apex court said the judgment in no way dilutes any provision of the SC/ST Act or rules, asserting that the Act does not mandate immediate arrest on the filing of a complaint.
"We have not diluted any provision of SC/ST Act and only safeguarded the interest of innocents from being arrested. Provisions of the Act cannot be used to terrorise the innocents," the court said.
That order had been the trigger for the violent Dalit protests that engulfed five states on Monday claiming 11 lives. Dalit groups said the order weakened a law that was meant for their protection.
The government has no plan to do away with quota policy for Dalits and tribes, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Union home minister Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha that there had been no "dilution" in the government's stand on the SC/ST Act. "Rather, after coming to power and examining the SC/ST Prevention Atrocities Act, we have decided to strengthen it," he said, adding that the government was not a party to the case in which the top court delivered the March 20 order.
Opposition members shouted slogans and were on their feet in protest against the Supreme Court's March 20 order diluting specific provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said the Centre did not agree with the court's conclusions. See p5
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