A day after the three BJP-ruled states, including Chhattishgarh, MP and Rajashthan issued guidelines to follow the Supreme Court order on the SC/ST Act, the Jharkhand Government today said that it had no such plan.
“Rather, the State Government is exploring an option to file a review petition on the line of the one filed by the Central Government in the case,” Chief Secretary Sudhir Tripathy told The Pioneer.
In a recent order passed by it, the Supreme Court diluting the provisions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, banned automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Act.
The law was meant to protect the marginalised communities against discrimination and atrocities.
Himachal Pradesh, another BJP-ruled state, has also reportedly informally issued a circular while Haryana has been looking for a legal respite in this direction.
“The State Government in coordination with the Central Government wants to file a review petition in this regard. In fact, we support the petition filed by the Central Government,” said the Chief Secretary.
Tripathy, however, said that the process for it has been initiated which might take some time.
He maintained that no direction or circular has been issued by the State Government for implementation of order passed by the Supreme Court.
Senior police officials in the State Police also asserted that no such direction has been issued so far by the State Government.
However, legal experts opined that the moment order is signed by the Supreme Court, it becomes a law and States are bound to abide by it.
“Once the Supreme Court issues directives, the State administration should issue orders to the lower rank and file to apprise them about the recent development and what has been ordered by the Supreme Court,” said former Advocate General Anil Sinha. Automatically, it becomes law of the land, he added.
Ironically, the Chhattisgarh Government took a U-turn today with Chief Minister Raman Singh suspending the Police order, saying the State Government will file an appeal in the apex court against the order.
The Supreme Court directive had attracted all round protest from Tribal and Dalit organizations and more than a dozen policemen, including City SP Ranchi Aman Kumar were injured during a scuffle which took place between the police and hostel students near Women’s College and Adivasi Hostel in Ranchi during ‘Bharat Bandh’ on April 2.