Supreme Court Refuses to Stay Verdict on SC/ST Act; Next Hearing Scheduled on May 16
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay its March 20 order that stopped mandatory arrests under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
New Delhi, May 4: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay its March 20 order that stopped mandatory arrests under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. In response to attorney general KK Venugopal’s argument that the violent protests erupted against the SC order, Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit remarked that the verdict did not encourage anyone to commit a crime.
“Our judgment did not incite anyone to commit crimes. The SC/ST community has the full protection of this court. Why can’t authorities take action, wherever crimes take place? There should be a system of immediate punishment. Communities should learn to respect each other,” The Hindustan Times reported, quoting Justice Lalit.
The apex court refused to budge from its stand. It restated its point that the March 20 verdict never stopped police from registering cases. The bench hearing the plea said that the top court’s last order clearly mentioned that the direction will not affect offences such as rape and murder.
According to Venugopal, the March 20 verdict was like a law. In his arguments, he submitted in the court said, “For the last four decades, the court has believed that it has the power of legislature... Your lordships cannot declare that a law in the country will be like this in contrast to existing law,” reported The Hindustan Times. The Supreme Court brushed aside the government’s charge that the March 20 order is an intrusion into the realm of the legislature.
No anticipatory bail could be given under the Section18 of the Act, but the SC in its verdict of March 20 ruled that there should be no restriction on grant of anticipatory bail. Centre has filed a petition in the court asking it to reconsider the order. The bench assured that the apex court is also concerned about the protection of SC/ST community. The bench told the attorney general that there were instances where judicial orders in the past had settled the law.
Supporting his arguments Venugopal gave an example of the recent incident where Dalits were stopped from riding horses. He said that stringent law is needed to protect them from injustices. The bench in response to the argument said that such incidents could be stopped with quicker punishments. According to the report. Justice Goel asked, “For that, you need to deliver immediate punishment...Why can’t you punish in a month or so?” To this, the AG said that because of the large population of the country solving these cases immediately was a challenging task.
Venugopal demanded that the case should be referred to a larger bench to hear the case. However, the top court refused to put a stay on its verdict of March 20 and scheduled the next hearing on May 16.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 04, 2018 10:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).