Lok Sabha passes bill amending SC/ST Act

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the bill to amend the SC/ST (Preven-tion of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which seeks to overturn the Supreme Court order which had diluted certain provisions of the law. The bill had been introduced in the LS on Friday after the cabinet cleared it on Thursday.

The government agreed to restore the bill in its original format after massive protests from dalit organisations and a country-wide strike called by them on August 9.

According to the provisions of the bill, any anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs is ruled out notwithstanding any court order.

It also provides that no preliminary enquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval. Meanwhile, the Congress, which supported the bill on the floor of the House, later demanded that the law be included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to insulate it from legal challenge. Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge said the government brought this bill because it was under the pressure from the backward classes as people belonging to the scheduled castes sat on a protest which pushed the government to introduce this bill.

He cited the National Crime Records Bureau data to state that every 15 minutes in India, a crime against dalits is committed.