SC/ST Act: Govt to file review petition, protesters call for Bharat Bandh -Governance Now

SC/ST Act: Govt to file review petition, protesters call for Bharat Bandh

Punjab, which has more than 32 percent of the SC population, has postponed all Class 10 and Class 12 CBSE exams

GN Bureau | April 2, 2018

#Scheduled Castes #Ravi Shankar Prasad #Bharat Bandh #SC/ST Act #Scheduled Tribes

Supreme court of India

On March 21, the supreme court put certain riders on the immediate arrest in complaints filed under its provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The apex court while noting that the Act which has been subject to abuses, on many occasions was used for ‘vested interests’ and for political or personal reasons, provided safeguards like provisions for anticipatory bail and a requirement of preliminary enquiry before registering a case under the Act.

The apex court order which attracted sharp reaction from different quarters had compelled the central government to file a review petition in the supreme court.

As reported by The Hindu on March 29, union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said that centre was “preparing” to file a review petition against the supreme court ruling.

Also, the same day Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan led a delegation of NDA’s SC and ST MPs including social justice minister Thawarchand Gehlot to meet prime minister Narendra Modi, which intensified the efforts to file a review petition.

The order has also led to wide scale protests, with those opposing the judgment calling for the nation-wide strike starting Monday.

Punjab which has more than 32 percent of the SC population is expected to be worst hit, with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) already postponing all Class 10 and Class 12 exams that were to be held on April 2 in Punjab.

Cases registered under Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Atrocities against SCs

Crime Incidence - 2014: 40,401; 2015: 38,670; 2016: 40,801

Uttar Pradesh (10,426 cases) reported the highest number of cases of atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) accounting for 25.6% followed by Bihar with 14.0% (5,701 cases) and Rajasthan with 12.6% (5,134 cases) during 2016.

Crime head-wise cases revealed that assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty with 7.7% (3172 cases) reported the highest number of cases of crimes/atrocities against Scheduled Castes (SCs) followed by Rape with 6.2% (2541 cases) during 2016.

Atrocities against STs

Crime Incidence - 2014: 6,827; 2015: 6,276; 2016: 6,568

Madhya Pradesh (1,823 cases) reported the highest number of cases of atrocities against Scheduled Tribes (STs) accounting for 27.8% followed by Rajasthan with 18.2% (1,195 cases) and Odisha with 10.4% (681 cases) during 2016.

Crime head-wise cases revealed that rape (974 cases) reported the highest number of cases of crimes/atrocities against Scheduled Tribes (STs) accounting for 14.8% followed by assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty with 12.7% (835 cases) and kidnapping & abduction with 2.5% (163 cases) during 2016.

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