Rahul to attend Dalit Sammelan in Delhi on April 23

Congress President Rahul Gandhi will attend a Dalit Sammelan here on April 23, in wake of the Supreme Court's order diluting some stringent provisions of the SC/ST anti-atrocity Act.

The party will also organise a protest on April 4 at Parliament Street against the verdict on the SC/ST Act and the atrocities and oppression against the Dalits in different parts of the country, said a party source.

The Congress had also urged the government to take "corrective steps" in Parliament and file a review petition in the Supreme Court. Congress members had also protested in Parliament over the verdict.

In an order on March 20, the Supreme Court said the arrest of an accused under the Act was not mandatory and recourse to coercive action would be taken only after preliminary inquiry and sanction by the competent authority.

The court also said that there was no "absolute bar against grant of anticipatory bail in cases under the Act if no prima facie case is made out or where on judicial scrutiny the complaint is found to be prima facie mala fide".

--IANS

sid/vd