Govt may file plea to review top court order on SC/ST Act

NEW DELHI: With Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Dalit MPS as well as members of alliance partners upset over the Supreme Court’s decision to dilute stringent provisions under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, it seems the government may file a review petition before the apex court in the matter. According to sources privy to Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale, the government is considering filing a review petition after consultation with legal experts in the matter.

According to sources, Athawale has ‘claimed’ that he had a meeting with BJP president Amit Shah over the issue and during the conversation, he apprised Shah about the damaging consequences of the SC order. “Athawale further claimed that Shah asked Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to study the judgement and find out ways to file a review petition in the matter,” the sources said.

Athawale is the founder– leader of the Republican Party of India (A), an Ambedkarite party, which is an ally of the NDA. Another alliance partner and Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan has also said that SC/ ST communities in the country are angry and disappointed at SC’S verdict on SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act. “We have discussed this issue within the party. We want the government to file an immediate review petition before the Supreme Court,” Paswan said.

The CPI too has asked the government to seek an immediate review of the recent SC order. On Thursday, Congress had also demanded an immediate review of the judgement pronounced by the top court.