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A petition has been filed by India for Rule of Law Foundation in the Supreme Court, yet again, against the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, claiming that it bypasses the apex court’s order against the arbitrary arrest under the Act and is an attempt at separating our society unfairly.
Filed through advocate Devendra Nath Tripathi, advocate Vikas Prashar in the petition, pray to the SC for striking down the amendment stating that the SC-ST Amendment Act, 2018 will eventually encourage separatism and defer the dream of evolving a truly secular State. The petition also said that this amendment, brought in by the government, for the social security of the members of the SC-ST community while ignoring the non-SC-ST members is only going to divide the country.
Earlier this year, Supreme Court introduced a provision for anticipatory bill in the cases registered under the said Act while also placing a procedure for a preliminary enquiry by the police before making any arrest. This decision resulted in massive protests throughout the country which was then followed by the passing of a bill by the government. Through this bill, Section 18A was inserted which stated that preliminary enquiry shall not be necessary for the registration of an FIR against any person and that for the arrest of any person, the investigating officer shall not require an approval and, lastly, that notwithstanding any judgment or order or direction of any Court, the provisions of Section 438 CrPC (anticipatory bail) shall not apply to a case under this Act.
According to the petition, the amendment has rendered the judgement of the apex court “nugatory, redundant and otiose” and is another case wherein the legislature has overruled and dismissed the directions of the Hon’ble Court.
While arguing that doing away with the provisions of the anticipatory bail is violative of the Constitutional scheme of India, the petitioner further added that this the Amendment Act, 2018 is highly prejudicial and may unfairly damage the personal and professional reputation of a citizen and while there is a need to balance the societal interest and peace, it is paramount to protect the rights of the victims of such false news.
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