SC/ST Act: Par panel likely to recommend review of SC order

A parliamentary committee may recommend that the government file a review petition against the Supreme Court order diluting the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, according to panel members.

Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice, cutting across party lines, said they will raise the issue at the panel's meeting next week.

The committee will call officials of the social justice ministry to deliberate on the judgement, a member said on condition of anonymity.

The social justice ministry is the nodal ministry for the implementation of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Members of the panel are of the opinion that the government should file a review plea against the judgement, another member said.

The 30-member committee headed by BJP MP Ramesh Bais is scheduled to meet next week to analyse the impact of the micro-credit finance scheme of the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC).

The Supreme Court had last week ordered that there shall be no immediate arrest based on a complaint filed under the law.

Before arresting a public servant under the Act, a preliminary probe by an officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent is a must, the court had said.

Union ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Ramdas Athawale have already demanded that the government file a review plea against the order.

Many MPs of the BJP are also upset over the judgement and have conveyed their views to the party leadership.