New Delhi: The recent order issued by the Supreme Court over automatic arrest and registrations of cases for alleged harassment of SCs and STs will be challenged by the government after it filed a review petition.

According to a senior government official, the petition will be filed by the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry today.

And regarding the ongoing protests over the issue of Supreme Court’s verdict on the SC/ST Act by organizations and individuals, the Union Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot had asked them to withdraw after the government’s decision to file a review petition challenging the order.

According to sources in the government, the top law officers are constantly sharing ideas with officials of the ministry of social justice to make a credible review plea.

The Apex court recently ruled that cases filed under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989 will not attract automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases.

The law was introduced to protect the marginalized communities against any type of discrimination and atrocities.

To represent the issue, a delegation of NDA alliance’s SC and ST MPs, headed by LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan and Gehlot, had held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to discuss about the top court judgment diluting provisions of the SC/ST atrocities act.

Both the bodies relating to the SC and ST, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) have already communicated their respective views and sought a review of the ruling by saying that the original Act, as it existed before the Supreme Court verdict, needs to be restored.

The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act, 1989 was amended very recently to include new offences and to ensure that speedy justice is delivered to the victims. The amended law was effective from January 26, 2016.

The mission is to take the matter into the Apex court again. And if the government does not take their issues in a serious manner, it may convey the message of the Central government of being anti-dalit, said the Congress party, which is currently supporting the Dalit demand.

A group of MPs from NDA have already held a meet with Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and BJP chief Amit Shah. A section of dalits are very much concerned about the case if issue is not addressed, as it may become a potential political controversy.

After several reports of attacks on Dalits by so-called cow vigilantes, a perception has been growing within the backward community about the government being careless and not concerned about their welfare, the Congress has said. Senior party leader Anand Sharma has asked the government to make its stand clear over the issue. He is concerned about any fresh “insecurity” controversy after the Apex court order.

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