“Those agitating on streets may not have even read our judgment. Vested interests are also involved sometimes. We are only concerned about innocent people being put behind bars. We are not against the Act at all. But innocents can’t be punished on unilateral version. Why does government want people to be arrested without verification,” the apex court further observed.
The top court also asked the Attorney General, “How will AG function if allegations are raised like this?”
On Monday, the government moved a review petition seeking recall of the Supreme Court’s March 20 judgment that ruled that there would be no automatic arrest of an accused following a complaint moved under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Earlier in the day, while speaking in Lok Sabha amid chants of ‘we want justice’ from the Opposition benches, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh stressed that the Modi government has done nothing to dilute the provisions of SC/ST Act as being claimed by a few political parties and Dalit groups. Rajnath said the government had, in fact, strengthened the said act.
Published Date: April 3, 2018 3:01 PM IST