BJP yields under Dalit pressure

Provisions of SC/ST Act, which were upturned by court, to be restored

The Modi government has decided to table a constitution amendment bill in Parliament to restore the original provisions of the SC/ST Act that were quashed by the apex court. These provisions of the SC/ST Act allowed arrest of an accused without preliminary enquiry or prior approval.

The government decided to nullify the ruling under duress, with Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP and Ramdas Athawale's RPI exerting pressure on it. The pressure had increased after Justice (Retired) AK Goyal was appointed as the chairman of the National Green Tribunal. He was on the Supreme Court bench that pronounced judgment in the SC/ST Act case.

For restoring the original provision, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The amendment, if passed by Parliament, will upturn the Supreme Court judgment pronounced on March 20. The judgment had diluted the SC/ST Act to state that immediate arrest of an accused under this law would no longer be mandatory. The arrest was to follow a preliminary enquiry by the probing agency or police.

When NDA’s Dalit MPs and other leaders spoke openly against the judgement, the government was constrained to file for a review in the top court.

Paswan, the LJP chief, had almost put the government on notice, saying the party would launch a protest if the law was not amended. He had also said that if the Modi government failed to bring an amendment bill by August 9, then the monsoon session should be curtailed and an Ordinance should be promulgated to restore the SC/ST Act.

The opposition had also turned the heat and lost no opportunity to point out that the BJP-led government was anti-Dalit and had not done enough to get the court order reviewed.