SC/ST Act order: Centre will seek top court review

NEW DELHI: The law ministry on Wednesday cleared the ground for the government to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the apex court’s decision to ban automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases for suspected offences against underprivileged communities.

The law ministry’s advice came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ministers and members of Parliament who said after the meeting that they had been assured that the Bjp-led NDA government would stay at the vanguard of efforts to uplift the Dalits. Opposition members led by Congress president Rahul Gandhi met President Ram Nath Kovind on the same issue.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, a legislation meant to protect the marginalised communities from abuse and discrimination.

It also held that a court can grant anticipatory bail if it, prima facie ( at first sight), finds the complaint is an abuse of the law, false, motivated and intended to blackmail or harass a person.

The law ministry has advised the ministry of social justice and empowerment, the nodal ministry for executing development measures to benefit marginalised communities, to file the review petition, a law ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Both the BJP and its partners in the NDA and Opposition parties have expressed concerns over the SC’S judgment, cautioning that it would dilute the provisions of the Act. BJP and NDA MPS have said the judgment is likely to hurt the party’s and coalition’s electoral prospects.

The Opposition too has stepped up pressure on the government to seek a review of the court order.

NDA MINISTERS AND MPS, INCLUDING THOSE FROM THE BJP, MET PM WHILE RAHUL GANDHI LED A DELEGATION TO MEET PRESIDENT KOVIND ON THE ISSUE