Dalit group writes letter in blood to Modi over SC/ST act

A Dalit group has written a letter with blood to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind, appealing to them to restore the original Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The letter written by the members of the Bhartiya Dalit Panthers Party said that Parliament should bring in an ordinance and restore the original act. This comes close on the heels of protests across the country over the Supreme Court's March 20 order on the SC/ST act, which was seen as a dilution of the act.

The Apex Court had on 20 March said that on "several occasions", innocent citizens were being named as accused and public servants deterred from performing their duties, which was never the intention of the legislature while enacting the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The court had said that unless the exclusion of anticipatory bail is limited to "genuine cases and inapplicable to cases where there is no prima facie case was made out, there will be no protection available to innocent citizens".

The government, in its review petition, told the Supreme Court that its 20 March verdict will violate Article 21 of the Constitution for the SC/ST communities and sought restoration of the provisions of the SC/ST Act.