-The Hindu The court says it has only protected innocents from falling prey to arbitrary arrests under the Act. The Supreme Court said its March 20 judgment, banning immediate arrest of a person accused of insulting or injuring a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe member, is meant to protect innocents from arbitrary arrest and not an affront to Dalit rights. The government, despite an urgent and open court hearing of its review petition, failed to...

-The Indian Express The Supreme Court bench of U U Lalit and A K Goyal, which laid down stringent safeguards before registering a case under the SC/ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act on Tuesday, took a similar line on the anti-dowry law last July. IT’S A tale of two laws and the same two-judge bench. The Supreme Court bench of U U Lalit and A K Goyal, which laid down stringent safeguards before...

-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 Telegraph New Delhi: The concern over the silence of the Prime Minister on the dilution of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act has spread beyond Dalit MPs in the NDA. Junior human resource development minister and BJP ally Upendra Kushwaha on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the government should immediately move the Supreme Court against the order that prevents immediate arrest over complaints of...

-The Indian Express Latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows reported crimes against SCs increased by 5.5 per cent in 2016 while crimes against STs has increased by 4.7 per cent. At a time when cases of atrocities against Dalits and Adivasis have increased despite low conviction rates, rights groups said Tuesday’s Supreme Court order would reverse many gains made after amen-ding the Atrocities Act in 2015. The Supreme Court order, many...