SC Asks Govt For Its Stand on Petitions Against SC/ST Law Changes That Negate Judgment
PTI
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Union government for its reply on a batch of petitions seeking to nullify parliament’s August 9 amendments to the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
A bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued notice to the Centre and sought its reply within six weeks.
The petitions allege that parliament had “arbitrarily” decided to restore provisions struck down by the Supreme Court. The latest amendments will deny an innocent person the right of anticipatory bail.
Last month, parliament had passed a bill to overturn the March 20 Supreme Court order concerning certain safeguards against arrest under the SC/ST law.
The bill rules out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding any court order. It says no preliminary inquiry will be required for filing a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval.
In its March 20 order, the Supreme Court had taken note of the rampant misuse of the stringent SC/ST Act against government servants and held that there shall be no immediate arrest on any complaint filed under the law.
It had passed a slew of directions and said a public servant can be arrested in cases lodged under the SC/ST Act only after prior approval by the competent authority.
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