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Supreme Court upholds constitutional validity of SC/ST Amendment Act, 2018

WION Web Team
New Delhi Updated: Feb 10, 2020, 11:40 AM IST
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File photo: Supreme Court of India. Photograph:(ANI)

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A Bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Vineet Saran and Justice Ravindra Bhat pronounced the verdict on pleas challenging the Act.

Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutional validity of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018 that ruled out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs.

According to the apex court, a court can grant anticipatory bail only in cases where a prima facie case is not made out.

A Bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Vineet Saran and Justice Ravindra Bhat pronounced the verdict on pleas challenging the Act.

Justice Ravindra Bhat, the other member of the bench, said in a concurring verdict that every citizen needs to treat fellow citizens equally and foster the concept of fraternity.

A court can quash the FIR if a prima facie case is not made out under the SC/ST Act and the liberal use of anticipatory bail will defeat the intention of Parliament, Justice Bhat added.

The top court's verdict came on a batch of PILs challenging the validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act of 2018, which was brought to nullify the effect of the apex court's 2018 ruling, which had diluted the provisions of the stringent Act.

(With inputs from agencies)