-The Hindu Supreme Court verdict on the Act could increase the vulnerability of victims of atrocities, says ex-official GUNTUR (Andhra Pradesh): The Central government must bring an ordinance to remove the conditions imposed in the recent Supreme Court judgment in the implementation of the Prevention of Atrocities (SC, ST) Act, 1989 and remove all general observations made about it, said P.S. Krishnan, former Union Secretary, Ministry of Welfare, and member, National Monitoring...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati castigated the Madhya Pradesh government on Monday over the branding of police recruits by caste, and Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule asked the Prime Minister's Office to probe the "shameful" incident. Media reports have said that newly recruited police constables had "SC" (Scheduled Caste), "ST" (Scheduled Tribe) or "OBC" (Other Backward Classes) marked on their bare chests with felt pens during their medical...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre accused the Supreme Court of encroaching into the legislative domain while diluting the stringent arrest provision of the SC/ST ( Prevention of Atrocities) Act and appealed on Thursday for its restoration. The written submission by attorney general K K Venugopal on behalf of the Centre reflected the executive’s seething anger rather than a dispassionate analysis of the March 20 judgment, which introduced anticipatory bail...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has said it is examining the "desirability of filing a review petition" against last week's Supreme Court order diluting the SC-ST Act, ending days of dithering amid mounting pressure from allies and Dalit BJP parliamentarians. "I have instructed my ministry to examine the desirability of filing a review in this case. Appropriate actions are being taken," Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a news...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court directs that public servants can only be arrested with the written permission of their appointing authority. The anti-atrocities law, which protects Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from casteist slurs and discrimination, has become an instrument to “blackmail” innocent citizens and public servants, the Supreme Court observed in a judgment on Tuesday. Issuing a slew of guidelines to protect public servants and private employees from arbitrary arrests under the...