A file photo of 'Bharat Bandh' against the Supreme Court ruling on the SC/ST Act.

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday moved to mollify Dalit unrest by clearing amendments to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to nullify the Supreme Court order of March 20, which had introduced safeguards against arrest of public servants and others under the law while doing away with the ban on anticipatory bail for the accused.

The SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, which comes just days ahead of a nationwide protest planned by Dalit groups on August 9 against the SC order, restores the original provision of the law which held that the investigating officer could arrest the accused once he had reason to suspect an offence had been committed.

“This decision to arrest or not to arrest cannot be taken away from the investigating officer”, states the bill proposed to be passed before August 10, when Parliament’s monsoon session gets over. The bill seeks to bar the application of the provision of anticipatory bail by reversing the order of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit, who had held that “there is no absolute bar against grant of anticipatory bail in cases under the atrocities act if no prima facie case is made out or where on judicial scrutiny the complaint is found to be prima facie mala fide”.

The two judges had held that public servants accused under the Atrocities Act should not be arrested without written permission of the appointing authority. In the case of others accused of committing atrocities on Dalits and tribals, Justices Goel and Lalit held that arrests should be subject to the written permission of the senior superintendent of police.

The court order triggered fiery protests from Dalits who saw it as a dilution of the anti-atrocity law. Their statements were followed by a countrywide bandh, arguably the first instance of an all-India resistance, leading to violence in several parts.

Opposition parties had waded into the unrest caused by the SC order, blaming the “dilution” of the atrocities act on BJP and RSS. Government’s bid to appease the community by seeking a review came to a naught, with Justices Goel and Lalit standing by their intervention and saying that it was justified as a deterrent against abuse of the atrocity act through “frivolous and motivated” charges. The appointment of Justice Goel as the chairman of National Green Tribunal after his retirement, only added to the challenge, with Dalit groups and opponents quickly painting his new assignment as a “reward” for allegedly watering down the atrocities law.

Although Dalit groups refused to call off their protest plan for August 9, many in the government felt that the amendments cleared by the Cabinet and the likelihood of their passage in the current session will help neutralise the anger of the Dalits.

“This is a historic decision to restore the status as it was prior to the Supreme Court order of March 20, 2018. We thank the Narendra Modi government for this. The amendment bill will be brought during the current session of Parliament and we are confident it will be passed,” said Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan after the Cabinet meeting.

Paswan as well as another important Dalit Union minister, Ramdas Athawale, had publicly spoken against the March 20 order. The unrest over the March order was being seen as a political setback for BJP. It was also a blow to RSS’ plan to bring Dalits into the larger Hindutva constituency it has sought to acquire.

The order stated, “In view of acknowledged abuse of law of arrest in cases under the Atrocities Act, arrest of a public servant can only be after approval of the appointing authority and of a non-public servant after approval by the SSP which may be granted in cases if considered necessary for reasons recorded. Such reasons must be scrutinised by the magistrate for permitting further detention”.

