New Delhi: The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that Parliament has the power to amend a law to remove the basis of a judgment and justified the amendments brought in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to ensure that victims are protected.
The Centre in its response to a batch of petitions challenging the amended provisions said amendments to the Act were made based on well reasoned objective to strengthen the statutory framework to give protection to the members of SC and ST communities. The amendments provide that no preliminary inquiry would be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval
Parliament had on August 9 passed the law to annul the Supreme court’s verdict, which provided for safeguards against arrest under the SC/ST Act and grant of bail to the accused. The March 20 verdict held that a public servant could be arrested in cases lodged under the SC/ST Act only after prior approval by the competent authority.
