SC/ST Amendment Act to be introduced in Parliament: Rajnath
New Delhi, Aug 2: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said a Bill to amend the SC/ST Atrocities Prevention Act, cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday, will be introduced in Parliament in the ongoing session for consideration and passage.
"I don't know why the members are raising this issue now. I think they are aware and they have the knowledge that the Union Cabinet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill," Rajnath Singh said in the Lok Sabha during Zero Hour.
He said the entire country knew that the Supreme Court had diluted the SC/ST Act through its ruling that a preliminary enquiry was required to arrest any person even under the SC/ST Act meant for preventing atrocities against those covered under the Act.
"The Prime Minister has said then if there is any dilution in the Act, we will bring a bill. And there is no if and but in it, he (Modi) had promised," he said.
"We will introduce the Bill in this session of Parliament to make it a law."
The Home Minister's remarks come a day after the Union Cabinet decided to restore a provision of the SC/ST Act allowing the arrest of accused persons without a preliminary enquiry or prior approval that was recently struck down by the Supreme Court.
The preamble of the amendment says that the decision to arrest or not to arrest cannot be taken away from the investigating officer, a power given under the Criminal Procedure Code in which there is no provision for a preliminary enquiry.
Under the new provision, no preliminary enquiry will be required for registering FIRs against the accused and arrest of persons accused under the SC/ST Act and this will not require any approval. The provision of anticipatory bail shall not be available to the accused notwithstanding any court judgment.
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Dy CM Shivakumar confident of Congress win in Karnataka bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday expressed confidence that the ruling Congress will secure a decisive victory in the Assembly bypolls scheduled for April 9 in the Bagalkote and Davanagere South constituencies, citing a favourable ground response to the party’s guarantee schemes.
These are ‘Shakti’, ‘Gruha Lakshmi’, ‘Gruha Jyoti’, ‘Yuva Nidhi’ and ‘Anna Bhagya’.
The bypolls were necessitated by the demise of sitting Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, who represented Davanagere South and Bagalkote constituencies, respectively.
The Congress has fielded Shivashankarappa’s grandson, Samarth Shamanur, in Davanagere South and Umesh Meti in Bagalkote. They are locked in direct contests with BJP candidates T Dasakariyappa and Veerabhadrayya Charantimath.
“Both Bagalkote and Davanagere are very positive. Congress workers are doing an excellent job, going door to door and convincing people about the guarantee schemes,” Shivakumar told reporters here.
He said even voters who had earlier supported the BJP were now inclined towards the Congress.
“Even those who voted for the BJP earlier are saying they will vote for Congress. People want the guarantees to continue and are expressing difficulties due to rising prices,” he said.
Expressing confidence of an improved electoral performance, he added, “There is a strong sense that we will win with a bigger margin than before.”
Shivakumar also said he would travel to Kerala for two days and resume campaigning thereafter. “I am going to Kerala for two days. After returning, we will continue the campaign from Davanagere,” he said.
Referring to the shortage of LPG, including auto LPG, in the state, Shivakumar blamed the BJP-led government and called for immediate intervention by the Centre.
“The LPG shortage is due to the BJP. Auto drivers and those in the transport sector are facing difficulties,” he claimed.
“This is something the central government has to address. It must formulate proper policies and take precautionary measures,” he said, adding that the BJP should apologise to the public.
“They should come forward and apologise to the people for the inconvenience caused and resolve the issues they have created,” he said.
