NEW DELHI/ COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court seeking a review of the judgment which had diluted certain provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.The review petition cited the nationwide protests that the order sparked and said that the order had resulted in unrest in society and that it will dilute the objectives of the law. Last week, Kerala moved the apex court and had cited 26 reasons as to why the Supreme Court order diluting the SC/ST Act on March 20 was bad in law.
The State government filed a review petition, stating that the judgment was against the provisions of the Act and had wide ramifications as the same has created insecurity among SC/ST people.The judgement sparked massive protests across India with a nationwide bandh called on April 2. Several Dalit groups in the country held demonstrations, calling for a repeal of the order.The Central government subsequently filed a review petition over the Supreme Court’s order. Seeking the recall of the judgment, the government said it “entails wide ramifications and implications resulting in dilution of the stringent provisions” of the 1989 law.
In the written submissions, the Centre had claimed that the judgment has “caused a lot of commotion in the country and is also creating anger, unease and a sense of disharmony”.The Centre also reminded the court of the significance of separation of powers and added that the Constitution mandated only the legislature to make laws. “In India, separation of powers being part of the basic structure of the Constitution, there was no room for the court declaring that it could legislate and make plenary law”.
Meanwhile, Kongunadu Munnetra Kazhagam president ‘Best’ Ramasamy condemned the Central and State governments’ move of filing review petitions against the Supreme Court direction on the arrest of persons accused of committing atrocities against Dalits. “The government would soon face the wrath of our community members for filing the review petition,” Ramasamy said.