Intensifying the campaign against the SC/ST Act, an “all-community” meeting, loosely consisting of leaders of Backward and Most Backward Communities and headed by Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder S Ramadoss, on Sunday demanded that the Centre and State amend the legislation to prevent its misuse.
The demands come at a time when, following caste clashes in Dharmapuri and Cuddalore, several non-dalit community groups across the State have alleged large-scale misuse of the legislation for settling personal scores. The resolution said that among all the cases filed under the Act since its enactment in 1989, charges have been proved only in 2.2 per cent cases. In other words, over 97 per cent of the complaints were false, it alleged, and added that even a court in Delhi had expressed concern over this trend.
Therefore, the resolution demanded that the law be amended to make the provisions bailable. There should be a monitoring committee in each district headed by the magistrate which should go through every complaint. “Only if the committee gives the go-ahead should action be taken on the complaints,” the resolution said. Also if the complaint is found to be false, stringent action should be initiated against the complainant, it urged, and said a state-wide stir would be held on Jan 4 to press this issue.
In another resolution, the meeting demanded a committee headed by a former judge of the HC to go into “drama” love marriages that have affected thousands of young women in the State.