Chhattisgarh diluted SC/ST Act, says Congress, reiterating demand for ordinance to restore provisions

Cong. says Centre should bring in ordinance to restore the original provisions

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 08/07/2015: National Commission for Scheduled Castes Chairman P.L. Punia meeting with public representatives, associations and NGOs in Chennai on July 08, 2015. Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Pointing out that the BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh government has issued a circular to “implement the diluted version of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Act,” the Congress on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government should bring in an ordinance to restore the original provisions of the law.

“The BJP government in Chhattisgarh has gone ahead and started the implementation of the diluted version of the Act and also promised disciplinary action against those who do not implement the diluted version of the SC/ST Act. This is a clear case of the BJP’s double-speak, duplicity and deceit,” said P.L. Punia, former chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. .

When reporters pointed out that the Supreme Court had refused to stay its March 20 judgement even as it hears a review petition filed by the Centre, Mr. Punia said, “I said that right now Chhattisgarh has issued this direction but this is a Supreme Court order and eventually every State will have to follow. But why did the Centre not do what it could have done? You are comfortable after filing a review petition when the ordinance route was available to you.”

“The Prime Minister claimed the government had not touched the provision which denied interim bail to the accused. This is a ‘white lie’ spoken by none other than the Prime Minister of the country. Paragraph 83 of the March 20 Supreme Court judgment clearly states that there is no absolute bar against grant of anticipatory bail in cases under the Atrocities Act if no

prima facie case is made out or where on judicial scrutiny the complaint is found to be prima facie mala fide,” Mr. Punia said, reading parts of the March 20 order.

Stringent guidelines

In its recent order, the apex court had banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989.

The court had laid down stringent guidelines such as written permission from the appointing authority before a public servant could be arrested.