New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the latest amendments to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The amendments were brought in by the central government and cleared by Parliament earlier this month.
Filed by two senior lawyers, the petition wants the amendments to the SC/ST Act to be declared null and void by the apex court. The petitioners, in their argument, have claimed that the amendments to the law are nothing more than “appeasement politics” being played by the ruling party. They further claimed that the new law will negate people’s right to liberty.
Earlier this month, Parliament passed a bill to overturn a Supreme Court order concerning certain safeguards against arrest under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe law, with the Rajya Sabha unanimously adopting it. The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote, had got the nod of the Lok Sabha on August 6.
The Bill rules out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding any court order. It provides that no preliminary inquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval.
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