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Centre may file review plea on SC order on atrocities law

Last Updated 22 March 2018, 15:02 IST

The government may file a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a review of its judgement diluting the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, a ruling that has been slammed by leaders across party lines.

Dalit MPs from the BJP and alliance partners have doubled up efforts to put pressure on the Modi government to go for a review of the apex court judgement that issued guidelines to protect civil servants and private employees from arbitrary arrests under the Atrocities Act.

The Lok Janashakti Party, a partner in the NDA government, declared that it would file a review petition in the Supreme Court next week on the judgement delivered on Tuesday that has had political parties up in arms.

A delegation of Dalit MPs met Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to share their anxieties over the judgement and pitched for a review petition.

"We will study it and respond accordingly," Prasad told reporters at a press conferences here.

A top BJP source said the party's leadership has been apprised of the concerns raised by the SC/ST communities, who contend that the strongest weapon in the armoury has been snatched away by the verdict.

"SCs and STs across the country are angry about this judgement and the government should file a review petition," Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said here, mounting pressure on the government to take quick action in this regard.

Paswan is already upset about the inflammatory statements made by the Union ministers which had made a dent in his support base in Bihar comprising mostly voters from backward classes and minority communities.

"We will file a review petition in the Supreme Court next week," Chirag Paswan, chairman of the LJP parliamentary board, told reporters here.

The Supreme Court, in its judgement, had observed that the Atrocities Act had become an instrument to "blackmail" innocent citizens and public servants.

"Every law is prone to misuse; that does not mean that those laws should be abolished," senior Congress leader P L Punia said in a statement here. He demanded a review of the judgement.

CPI and Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, too, have demanded a review of the apex court judgement.

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(Published 22 March 2018, 15:02 IST)

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